Forever Young
by MadiWillow
Summary: One wedding, one breakup, one reunion. Our favorite eight friends reunite for the first time in years. Follow-up to Forget Yesterday. COMPLETE.
1. Old Friends, Part I

**AN:** Hello, all. I am back with the follow-up for "Forget Yesterday." If you have not read the aforementioned story, YOU HAVE TO READ IT FIRST. Sorry, does that sound harsh? Nonetheless, it is a necessity, otherwise nothing in here will make sense. And, you know, it might be a good read... perhaps... something. Try it in one go. It's been done. I've been told it takes five hours, so...

So SOMEHOW two people guessed this title. I was quite sad. I figured no one would ever think to guess the name of a 1988 Rod Stewart song. But clearly I was incorrect in that assumption.

Now, even as writing this, I was a bit hesitant to do a follow-up. However, I decided to go with it. You see, I wrote "FY" sort of like a TV show. And this story would be the reunion show that a lot of successful (and, perhaps, not-so-successful) TV shows have. That's my justification. Also, while I don't particularly enjoy writing for HSM, I feel as though, if I ever was to write for it again, it would have to be a continuation of "FY" in some way. I love what I've done with the characters and I almost feel as how I wrote them has become canon for me. I don't think I could go back and write another HSM story without referring back to their history in "FY."

... did you get that?

Fun fact: Did anyone ever notice Lila's age in "FY"? SIXTY-NINE? El-oh-el. Sorry, I make the lamest jabs sometimes.

The chapter title (for all three parts) comes from the musical _Merrily We Roll Along_.

**Title: **_Forever Young  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_One wedding, one breakup, one reunion. Our favorite eight friends reunite for the first time in years. Sequel to Forget Yesterday.  
_**Genre:** _Humor/Drama  
_**Chapter: **_Old Friends, Part I_

Gabriella Montez was sleeping peacefully. So peacefully, in fact, that her mind screamed at the sunlight pleading for her eyes to open. She flipped over onto her stomach, refusing to let the light get the better of her. Gabriella was exhausted and no Goddamn sunlight was going to get her up.

"RISE AND SHIII-IINE!"

However, a giant two-hundred pound object dropping itself heavily onto her bed, which in turn caused a catapult effect that left her sprawling on the ground, would.

She stood up, thanking the Lord for the day she forced her would-be-husband to order carpet instead of wood for their bedroom floor. "Troy," she said through gritted teeth. "We've talked about this. No throwing me off the bed!" She rubbed her hip, which was throbbing quite painfully. Gabriella was rather skinny, genetically, and part of her genetics caused her hip bones to protrude. Hence, injuring them was not a hard feat to accomplish.

"Sorry. Can I have your hand?" he asked eagerly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, sticking out her left hand. He grabbed it and grinned. "Soon there will be _two_ rings on that finger!" he said giddily.

Gabriella frowned. "I can't believe you're more excited about seeing an engagement ring on my finger than I am. You do realize I've been wearing this for over five years, right? Look." She adjusted the ring a bit. "I have a massive tan line."

Troy folded his arms across his chest defiantly. "That is _not_ my fault."

"I know. But still!"

"Well soon, the patch of skin on your finger will get even whiter when we add the wedding ring." He grinned and hopped off the bed, encircling his arms around his fiance's waist.

She smirked back. "Yeah. And you'll finally get your own horrible finger tan line."

He nodded. "That's actually the only reason I asked you to marry me, you know."

With a slight eye roll, she giggled. Pulling away from him and walking into their attached bathroom, she asked, "Why'd you get me up?"

Troy followed her. "Um... well, it's, like, eleven."

"Is it?" she asked mildly, turning on the faucet to brush her teeth. "Well, school just got out so I need to catch up on my sleep."

He leaned his back up against the sink next to her, his arms crossed. "I still can't believe you decided to go back to school."

"Well," she said, with a mouth full of toothpaste. "That's not exactly true."

Shrugging, he said, "It kinda is. Sure, you don't get homework, but sometimes you're up all night planning those stupid labs."

She spat the toothpaste into the sink and took a swig of water. After spitting that out as well, she said hotly, "I like chemistry labs, okay? It doesn't feel like homework to me because I enjoy it."

"Fuh-reak," sang Troy, and she mock-glared at him.

"Troy Bolton, we are getting married in five days. Do _not_ piss me off," she said with attitude. She pulled her hair back into a bun and began washing her face. "Well, I can't see how you do your job. Every night, you go on TV. I could _never_ do that."

Troy scoffed. "I go on TV to talk about sports. I'm sure you wouldn't mind going on TV to talk about chemistry," he teased.

"Ha, ha," she said dryly. "Actually, I would mind."

He shrugged. "It's really nothing to brag about. It's only the local news."

"Irregardless." She walked across the tile floor toward the shower and turned the water on. "Now get out, I'm showering."

"Hey, I could use a shower, too," he whined.

"Troy, no, I --" she started, but stopped when she turned around and saw him standing there, his shirt already off. She bit her lip and grinned. "Well, okay."

* * *

A half an hour later, Troy was getting dressed while Gabriella, in a bathrobe, blow-dried her hair. They were both flushed and beaming, and Troy kissed her on the cheek as he said, "I'll go make some breakfast."

"Make some breakfast?" she repeated.

He nodded. "A.K.A. – get out the cereal and milk."

"That's what I thought."

He jogged into the hallway, his long sweats dusting the floor as he went. It was finally happening – their wedding. Troy and Gabriella had been dating on-and-off, though mostly on, for the last seven years, and they were finally getting married. The very thought made him glow, even though most of his male friends didn't understand why. A couple even thought he shouldn't get married at all. Your relationship is perfect, they say, no need to mess it up with marriage. But marriage was what he and Gabriella had always been heading for. After only two months at Stanford University, Gabriella had shown up at his dorm room, dripping wet in the middle of an unexpected rain storm, confessing that she couldn't live without him with her. Even though her mother had been disappointed, she'd transferred to U of A with him after one semester.

Troy remembered feeling guilty, like he'd forced Gabriella to give up her future, but she assured him that wasn't the case. She'd always dreamed of going to Stanford, but she'd never imagined she would find a boy she loved more. At least, that was what she told him. And after Gabriella dedicated four years of college to him, Troy wanted to dedicate something to her, too. On Valentine's Day, he proposed to her, and she accepted. They knew they weren't going to get hitched any time soon, but they also knew that marriage was in their horizon.

Troy was pulled out of his reverie as he was pouring Cinnamon Toast Crunch into two bowls by his front door opening and closing. Chad Danforth, his best friend, appeared in the kitchen. Troy didn't blink or even think twice at his friend walking in without invitation.

"Hey, man," Chad greeted. "Finally got Gabriella up?"

Troy snorted gracefully. "Yeah, finally." He gave Chad a mischievous look. "And then we took a shower."

Chad nodded. "Aah, shower sex," he said dreamily, grabbing himself a bowl from the cupboard. He glanced at the box and then looked up at Troy dubiously. "Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Troy?" he repeated. "You're a grown man, getting married soon, and _this_ is what you choose for breakfast?"

Troy blinked. "But it's cinnamon swirls in every bite!" He held up his owl bowl and smiled innocently.

"Are you auditioning for a commercial?" grimaced Chad. Nevertheless, he poured some of the cereal and milk into his bowl.

Gabriella walked into the kitchen a few moments later, her hair dry and straightened. She grabbed the bowl Troy poured for her and sat herself down next to him. Through a mouthful of food, Chad asked, "What wedding stuff are you guys doing today?"

She looked at him in disgust. "Twenty-four but still talking with food in your mouth." Chad made a face and swallowed.

"Today we have some out-of --" began Troy, but Gabriella coughed loudly and kicked Troy in the leg under the table. "OW!" he yelped, rubbing his shin furiously. "What was that for?"

Chad glanced back and forth between the two of them, puzzled. "Uhh... did you just kick him?" he clarified.

"On accident," said Gabriella quickly. "Today we're going to visit the party planner and go over all the reception details."

Troy gave her a look but didn't say anything. Chad, however, shrugged and continued to eat.

A few minutes later, Chad excused himself to use the bathroom, and Troy immediately turned on Gabriella. "Why the hell did you kick me? And, um, we're not going to see the party planner today. That's tomorrow."

"I know."

Troy paused. "Then why did you say it?" he asked slowly, as if conversing with a small, inept child.

"_Hello_, Troy! If you mention anything about out-of-towners, Chad will freak."

He was nonplussed. "I don't get it."

"Come on. You know how he gets whenever someone mentions Sharpay, or even alludes to her," Gabriella reminded him. "Like when I said I wanted to go to New York."

Troy groaned loudly. "Are you kidding me? Gabriella, they broke up a thousand years ago."

She smiled slightly. "Well, actually, only four."

"Only four," he repeated sarcastically. "Wow, four whole years. Why would anyone expect them to get over it by now?" He shook his head grumpily. "How long did it take you and me? Like, less than a month?"

She shrugged. "Clearly they're different than us."

"I think immature is the word you're looking for," he supplied, looking annoyed.

Gabriella was hesitant as well, but she said. "Look, they'll come around when they want to."

Troy wasn't convinced, and he knew Gabriella wasn't either, but he didn't press the matter any further.

* * *

"Gabriella," began Becca, trying incredibly hard to keep her words casual and light, "are you_ sure_ you don't want pigs-in-a-blanket served as hors d'oeuvres?"

Gabriella blinked at Becca, looking at her blankly. "No, Becca, I'm quite sure – very sure, in fact – that I do not want anything that resembles pigs, or any other animal, for that matter, in blankets at my wedding," she said dryly.

Becca pursed her lips but did not pursue the subject. Gabriella narrowed her eyes at Troy. Becca was a great future mother-in-law, but she had a completely different view from Gabriella's about what she wanted the wedding to look like. It all started when she wanted to send out orange invitations with a pink trim on them – an idea that a horrified Gabriella had stomped all over. Later, Becca suggested having orchids at the wedding and Gabriella, knowing nothing about flowers, followed her and the party planner out to the flower shop. Needless to say, after seeing the orchids that the saleswoman called "Orchids of the Osa Peninsula" for about half a second, Gabriella refused to get them. Not only that, but she also squashed Becca's color scheme of purple and blue as well.

After that incident, Gabriella told Troy he couldn't let his mother help with the wedding anymore, and he broke it to her gently, saying that Gabriella really wanted to do it alone. Becca said she didn't mind, but, every chance she got, she attempted to throw out ideas.

"Okay, well, about the seating chart --" she said, pointing. "Are you sure you want all of your little high school friends at the head table with you?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes."

"I think Jack and I should --"

Smiling tightly, Gabriella interrupted, "You and Jack are sitting with my mother and Benjamin and other close relatives."

"Yes, but --"

"Becca," Jack sighed, and the other woman stopped talking to scowl.

There was a small, awkward silence between the four of them as Becca and Gabriella both looked irritated with each other. After a moment, Becca said, in an attempt to be pleasant, "So... people are flying in today, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Well, some of them. My bridesmaids have to come and get their dresses fitted, and the groomsmen need to get their tuxes measured."

"So, basically, your friends from school are coming today?"

"Basically."

More silence.

"Hey, Gabriella, let's... go over here," said Troy lamely, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hall.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Wow, Troy, that wasn't obvious at all." The two of them entered the den, and she smiled. "Wow."

"Haven't been in here in a while, have we?" he said knowingly.

She shook her head. "Nope." The room still looked exactly the same as it had six years earlier, when they were just ending their senior year. "How have we come over so often and not gone in here?" she asked rhetorically.

Troy shrugged, plopping himself down on the worn couch. "Being an adult is hard," he pouted. Gabriella sat down, too, and snuggled up next to him. "So, Mrs. Bolton," he began, grinning down at her.

She looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. "Mrs. Bolton?" she repeated. "Why Mrs. Bolton?"

"Well, you don't think I'm gonna be Mr. Montez, do you?" He laughed, but slowly stopped when he noticed her less-than-amused face. "That's a joke, Gabriella."

"What if I don't wanna change my last name?" she challenged, sitting up sightly.

He blinked. "Well... I just always thought..."

"See in there?" Gabriella pointed toward the general direction of where the kitchen was. "_That's_ Mrs. Bolton."

Troy frowned. "Okay, yeah, that's gonna be weird."

Gabriella suddenly smirked insidiously. "Wait, I kinda like it now. Call me Mrs. Bolton."

Troy stared her down. "No."

"Mrs. Bolton's feeling _dirty_," she teased, running her finger down his chest.

"Gabriella, no!" cried Troy frantically, scooting away from her.

"Why don't you give Mrs. Bolton a big, wet kiss!" she giggled, climbing on top of him.

He writhed and squirmed. "No, Gabriella!"

"Mrs. Bolton wants to do it, Troy!"

"Oh, God, no, Gabriella!"

She finally got off and allowed him to scramble away from him, looking very frightened indeed. She grinned triumphantly at him. "Now I know what to say to turn you off when I don't wanna do it."

He grumbled something incoherently.

The back door opened and the engaged couple looked up curiously.

"Anyone here?" asked a familiar, sing-song voice. The door opened up further and Taylor and Ryan stepped inside.

Gabriella was frozen for a few seconds, and then she jumped up and screamed loudly. Taylor joined in, and the two boys put their hands over their ears.

"OH, MY GOD!" shrieked Gabriella, running at Taylor and throwing her arms around her neck.

"IT'S BEEN SO LONG!" Taylor shouted. The two girls jumped up and down as they hugged.

"OH, MY GOD, I KNOW!"

Ryan approached Troy, and the latter stood up. They grabbed each other's right hands and leaned in, clapping each other on the back in a guy-hug.

"IT'S SO GREAT TO SEE YOU!"

"Okay, okay." Ryan walked up to the two girls and gently pulled Taylor off of Gabriella. "You're gonna make our ears bleed."

The girls let go of each other, both smiling ten miles wide. Gabriella hugged Ryan tightly in greeting as well, and Taylor embraced Troy.

"You guys are here already?" exclaimed Gabriella, pulling away from Ryan. "I thought your flight got in at three?"

Taylor shrugged. "We were able to get an earlier flight out."

"What the _hell_ is all this noise?" came an irritated voice, and Jack threw the door open. He saw the four twenty-something's in the den and sighed deeply. "Oh, crap. Don't you two have your own house?" He pointed at Troy and Gabriella. "Take your friends there and let them drink _your_ beer." He turned and stomped back out.

Troy smiled pleasantly at the newly arrived. "Don't mind him. He's just cranky. Old age, you know."

Gabriella grabbed Taylor's hands and the two sat down on the couch, like excited five-year-old school girls. "It's been sooooo long," Gabriella echoed Taylor's previous words.

"Don't you talk on the phone, like, every week?" Troy reminded her.

She glared. "Yes, but we haven't _seen_ each other in, like, two years." She gasped. "Oh, my gosh. It _has_ been almost two years! Because you visited the summer after graduation during your guys's move to L.A.!"

Taylor nodded solemnly. "I know. We kept wanting to come earlier but I'm still in school and Ryan's always working --"

"YOU'RE still in school, too?" cried Troy.

Gabriella gave him a look. "I told you. I'm not technically in school. And she's getting her Ph.D in history."

"But... why in _history_!?" sputtered Troy.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna be a historian, Troy. Remember?"

"... no." Taylor scowled, and he added quickly, "But, to be fair, I don't remember what anyone's job is." He glanced at Ryan's. "What's yours again?"

Ryan chuckled. "I'm a choreographer."

Troy wrinkled his nose. "So, you, like, teach little kids dancing?"

Ryan paused. "No. That would make me a dance teacher. I choreograph music videos."

"Ha!" barked Troy. "Like Z-list singers?

"You know that new Beyonce video?" piped up Taylor smugly.

Troy took a deep breath to answer, but then exhaled and said, "Nope. But I do know who Beyonce is, so, I guess that's good."

"Wow, thanks for the approval," said Ryan sardonically.

Troy grinned and put his arm around Ryan's shoulders. "This is just like old times. Except..." He glanced around. "There's only half of us here."

"Speaking of, where's everyone else?" Ryan asked.

"Chad's working," explained Gabriella. "And Zeke, Jason, and Sharpay should be in sometime today. We have to go pick Sharpay up at two-thirty-ish."

"And Zeke and Jason?"

"They're renting cars and are gonna go check in to the hotel first," Gabriella said.

Taylor nodded. "So, you're taking Sharpay to her hotel?" She laughed. "I'll bet she wants to be chauffeured, right?"

Gabriella smiled lightly. "Yeah. Well, actually, Sharpay's staying with us. She's not, uh, exactly... her financial status isn't... so great, and because your guys' parents moved to Washington..."

Taylor blinked in surprise. "Wait, she's broke?" She looked up at Ryan, who seemed equally bewildered. "Don't you talk to her all the time?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She's never mentioned anything to me about money issues."

"I just found out a couple days ago," Gabriella admitted. "She's been living in the city, which isn't cheap, trying to make it on Broadway, but the best she's ever gotten was a supporting role in an off-Broadway production, and it only ran for four weeks."

Taylor frowned. "Wow. You know, she shouldn't live right in the city. It's too expensive."

"I know, right?" cried Gabriella, waving her arms. She sighed and shook her head. "But, you know, she's totally stubborn and she's convinced she's going to star on Broadway one day. I'm going to take advantage of her visit and try to convince her to move back here."

Snorting, Taylor said, "You know that's not gonna happen."

"Look, you never --" began Gabriella, but Taylor cut in.

"Come on, Gabriella. You really think Sharpay would move back here while Chad is here? I have never before witnessed such a nasty parting."

Gabriella bit her lip. "I-I know. I just..." She sighed. "I don't know. I'm worried about her, that's all."

"Well, if Sharpay doesn't want help, you won't do any helping," laughed Taylor, and Gabriella smiled weakly back.

"So, what is it that Chad does again?" Ryan questioned.

"And you berate me for not knowing jobs..." Troy mumbled.

"He's a DJ," said Gabriella, ignoring Troy. "DJ MomJeans, actually."

"_Mom jeans_!?" repeated Taylor, erupting into a fit of giggles. "Where the hell did he come up with that?"

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella said, "I have absolutely no idea whatsoever." She stood up and glanced around the dingy room. "Well, as fun as it's been to be back in here... why don't we show you guys our own home?"

"Your home," said Taylor, a faraway look in her eyes. "God, we are so freakin' old."

* * *

Sharpay Evans hated flying. No matter how old she got, she would never understand the physics of a ten-million pound piece of metal flying through the air. Even the wings were metal, for Chrissake. She couldn't see how in the world it managed to stay up. Hence, whenever she was in a plane, she always expected it to fall out of the air. Watching "Lost" didn't help either. She hated flying over oceans even more than land, because at least if the plane fell out of the sky over land, she would be on modernized civilization.

Needless to say, she let out a breath she'd felt like she'd been holding for the last four or so hours as the plane skidded into its landing at the Albuquerque International Sunport. However, when the name Albuquerque floated across her mind, she frowned again. She hadn't been in town in two years, ever since she graduated. Literally the day after graduation, she hopped on a plane to New York City and tried her best not to look back. Sometimes she wished she could go back to the way it was in her senior year of school, when the worst thing that ever happened to them was missing Prom.

Well, and her being cheated on.

With a sigh, she stood up as the plane finally pulled up to the gate and took her single suitcase out of the luggage rack above her seat. She waited rather impatiently, tapping her foot noisily. One of the worst things about being poor – no, she quickly corrected herself, about being _average_ – was the inability to ride in first class. She clenched her jaw as the passengers moved seemingly as slowly as they possibly could without actually stopping.

"God, could you walk at a more snail-like pace?" she spat under her breath, and the business man who she'd sat next to on the flight gave her a dirty look. She leered back until he looked away, and she rolled her eyes.

Five minutes later, she finally managed to squeeze out of her row. Ignoring the woman behind her who was balancing crying twin toddlers, she pushed her way into the aisle and tried to walk off the plane as fast as she could. A boy near her age winked at her from the aisle parallel, and she glared at him menacingly.

It was true, Sharpay hadn't dated much since her last relationship. She'd gone on dates, had a couple one night stands, the norm for those living in New York City. But Sharpay only went out to clubs to get laid when she was feeling considerably depressed or alone.

Feeling quite claustrophobic, Sharpay nearly bowled over the passengers in front of her. She gave a simple curt nod to the friendly flight attendant at the door of the plane and power-walked out of the gate. The further away she was from the plane, the better.

Sharpay, her carry-on bag slung over her shoulder, strode purposefully through the airport whilst glancing around. She was afraid she would get lost in there; after all, it'd been two years since she'd been at it. She kept her eyes peeled for a familiar face as she took an escalator down to the luggage retrieval near the front of the airport.

She split half of her attention to the luggage conveyer belt and the other half to scanning the large crowd. Unfortunately for her, it was _packed_.

"Jesus, did a hundred fucking planes land at the same time?" she grumbled to herself. Among the many faces, she did not spy anyone she recognized.

She found her Louis Vuitton suitcase and heaved it off the conveyer belt. Yes, her Louis Vuitton suitcase. She may be simply average, financially, but her mother had given her the suitcase as a going away present when she moved to New York. It was the perfect camouflage for pretending she was rich.

Wheeling said suitcase behind her, Sharpay pushed her way through the horde of people, growing slightly antsy as she went. Where the _hell_ were they? It felt like she had circled the airport lobby twenty times.

Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of the room, causing a few people to bump into her and then shoot her annoyed glances. She ignored them and pulled out her phone, grinding her teeth together. "When I get a hold of --" she began, but she was distracted when she looked up and finally – finally! – she found the couple she'd been looking for.

Gabriella and Troy stood, hand in hand, near the front doors of the airport. Gabriella was standing on her tiptoes and had her left hand situated like a visor over her eyes as she searched for Sharpay. Said blonde found herself grinning as she shoved her way towards them.

"Gabriella!" she called, when she was in earshot. Gabriella didn't seem to hear her, so she yelled her name again.

The girl looked around for the source of the noise and beamed when she saw Sharpay. Sharpay beamed back, walking faster towards the two. Sharpay hadn't realized before how much she missed Gabriella. The two had always been such great friends, through their senior year and during college. She hadn't noticed how much she'd vied for Gabriella's presence in her life until she was put in front of her.

"Sharpay!" the other girl squealed, throwing out her arms and embracing Sharpay in a hug as soon as the latter dropped her luggage.

"Hey, Gabriella," giggled Sharpay, hugging the former back.

"It's been so long," said Gabriella, pulling back.

Troy, from behind her, rolled his eyes. "You said that with Taylor. 'It's been soooo loooong,'" he mocked in a high voice. "Are you gonna say it for Zeke and Jason too?"

Gabriella narrowed her eyes. "_Yes_." She turned back to Sharpay and smiled. "But it really has been so long. I mean, we talk and stuff, but it's different."

"Said that also," piped up Troy.

"Will you shut up?" snapped Gabriella.

Troy shrugged innocently.

"Anyway." She smiled brightly. "I'm so glad you're here. I love your hair!" She reached out and touched Sharpay's darker locks.

"Yeah, I like the dirty blonde look better," said Sharpay in a matter-of-fact tone. She flipped the hair over her shoulder. "Everyone in New York is so over blonde."

Gabriella smirked. "Yeah, okay."

"So, I _need_ to see your house," Sharpay said eagerly, holding our her bags to Troy. He stared at them for a moment, a blank expression on his face, and then turned to Gabriella. She nodded furiously. He sighed and took them begrudgingly, following the two women out of the airport. "Troy makes good money, doesn't he? He better. You wouldn't marry a guy that makes nothing, would you?" She laughed at the apparent obscurity of her words. "And since teachers make next to nothing, it's even more crucial that Troy brings you home a big, fat paycheck."

Gabriella sighed quietly, and Troy scoffed from behind them. "Gee, Sharpay, how I've missed you," he said drawled.

* * *

"This is where you'll be staying."

Sharpay glanced around the small bedroom, her nose wrinkled distaste. "This is tiny, Gabriella."

Gabriella clenched her jaw. Sharpay had made somewhere around ten million comments about Troy and Gabriella's finances during the car ride to their house alone. It was beginning to agitate Gabriella, and reminded her of why they hadn't been friends the first time they met. "Sorry, Sharpay. You could use your own money to buy yourself a nice, big room at Embassy Suites, if you like."

"You know," said Sharpay quickly, "this isn't so bad." She paused, and added as an afterthought, "After all, I'll only be here for a few days."

Gabriella did not let her groan of frustration go unnoticed as she turned and stomped out. She marched across the hall toward the kitchen, where Troy was getting out a couple of beers. "Need a drink?" he smirked.

She made a face at the beer and instead brushed past him, reaching for a bottle of vodka. She poured herself some in an iced glass and took a sip. "I don't get what the hell is wrong with her."

"Aww. Sharpay's charming personality has changed?" he asked sardonically.

"Of course she was never sweet," she snapped. "You know what I mean. It's like... moving to New York changed her back into her sixteen-year-old self." She glanced wearily at Troy. "Hopefully she won't try to trick you into singing with her the night before the wedding to steal you away from me."

Troy laughed. "Oh, trust me, Gabriella," he said, an arm draped around her shoulders. "It would take _much_ more than that to get me to leave you for her."

"Ha. Wow, Troy, you're _hilarious_."

"I know." He took a drink from his beer and exhaled. "Where'd Taylor and Ryan go?"

"They wanted to unpack a bit." Gabriella checked her watch. "They'll probably be back soon."

As if summoned, a knock sounded on the front door.

"Oh, that should be them now." Gabriella slipped out from under Troy's arm and set her glass down on the counter as she walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the front door. She opened the door and was faced with, instead, two familiar looking men.

"GABRIELLA!"

Gabriella was nearly tackled to the ground as Jason and Zeke pounced on her, hugging her tightly. She giggled and tried to push them off, but her strength from senior year had not grown. They felt her struggles and stood up straighter, beaming at her. "It's good to see you!" cried Zeke, his hands on her shoulders.

"I know! When's the last time you came? Christmas, two and a half years ago?" She turned to Jason. "And you... summer, three years ago?"

They nodded, and she slapped them both on their arms. "Hey!"

"How come you guys didn't come back!? We've missed you!"

They gave her a look. "Come on, Gabriella, you know why," said Zeke.

She frowned. "No, I know. Hey, so, how'd you know to come here? You've never been to our house."

"Well, we went to Troy's parent's house," Zeke explained. "But Jack gave us your address and threw us out. Something about not drinking his beer?" He shrugged noncommittally.

"Yeah, Jack's scarred from our senior year." Her face brightened. "Didn't you guys bring dates? Mikayla and Brandon, right? Where are they?"

"They're unpacking," Jason answered. "Wanted to get settled, or... whatever. They're such _girls_."

Gabriella nodded in interest. "Riveting." She turned her head and shouted, "Troy, get your ass in here!"

"You act like a married couple already," smirked Jason.

Troy ambled towards them, mumbling, "Jesus, Gabriella, I already saw Taylor and --" He came to an abrupt stop upon the view of Jason and Zeke in the threshold.

Troy blinked.

They blinked.

Then they man-hugged.

"Nice to see you, man."

"Yeah, it's been a while."

Gabriella stared at them incredulously. "This is how you greet each other after three years?"

"What do you want us to?" Troy asked her, quirking an eyebrow. "Kiss?"

She made a face. "Uhhh. No. But still!" The men stared blankly at her, and she sighed in defeat. "Okay, whatever."

Two heads popped up behind Jason and Zeke's shoulders. "What's the hold-up?"

Taylor enthusiastically greeted Jason and Zeke, very similarly to Gabriella, and Ryan greeted them in the same fashion as Troy. Taylor had the same reaction.

"_That's_ how you greet the guys who were once your best friends?"

"Taylor," said Gabriella, tugging her inside. "Sharpay's here."

A loud scream sounded down the hallway, and the blonde came scrambling toward the group. Taylor screamed too, and the girls lunged at each other.

"OH, MY GOD!"

Troy and Ryan exchanged irritated glances, as the Taylor-and-Sharpay-exchange was starting out the exact same the Gabriella-and-Taylor exchange had. "Let's go." They led the other two men into the kitchen, leaving the three girls behind.

"Oh, my gosh, Taylor," gushed Sharpay. "I have the _perfect_ skirt for you. It's too big for me."

Taylor frowned. "Oh, so I'm bigger than you?"

Sharpay stared. "_Yes_." She grabbed Taylor's hand and dragged her down the hallway, Gabriella rolling her eyes in their wake.

As soon as Sharpay turned the corner, the front door opened again and Chad barged in. "I see a few rental cars out front!"

Gabriella's heart rate jumped. "Uh, oh..." she whispered. Luckily, Chad didn't hear her, as he'd already started to the kitchen.

She followed, and when they entered the kitchen and the four men glanced up at Chad, Gabriella waved her arms frantically. She beckoned for Troy and he approached her as she led him out of the kitchen, leaving Chad to greet the others.

"What?" asked Troy exasperatedly.

"What?" she repeated in disbelief. "_What_!? Are you seriously asking that question?"

"Um. Yes."

She growled. "_Chad_ and _Sharpay_ are both here. In this house. At the same time!"

Troy smirked. "This'll be interesting. Ouch!" he yelped as his fiance's palm came in quick contact with his arm.

"It will so not be interesting. On the contrary, it will be a disaster."

"Look," said Troy, his patience over the situation clearly diminishing quickly. "They broke up a long time ago, remember?"

"Yes, I do. However, I also remember them refusing to see each other afterwards and making everyone choose sides later that summer."

"I remember too."

"And you remember graduation, when they were trying to make us choose whose party to go to?"

"Yes."

"Why does this information not make you realize how _huge of a deal this is_?!"

"Because they need to get over it," he said shortly, turning to leave.

"Yeah, well, they can get over it while we're on our honeymoon!" she called after him. "That way I won't have to witness their deaths."

He waved his arm to show he was listening, but didn't respond as he reentered the kitchen.

She scowled at his back and then jumped at the sound of footsteps. She whipped around and saw Taylor and Sharpay returning from Sharpay's room, Taylor holding a huge skirt that had to at least be a size ten, and looking quite pissed off. Sharpay was talking animatedly about something that Gabriella didn't even comprehend as she mouthed, "CHAD'S HERE!"

Taylor's eyes widened and she bit her lip.

"Hey, guys, let's go in the living room and watch the game!" came Troy's loud voice from the kitchen, and Gabriella made a mental note to kick him later. More footsteps sounded as the men approached.

"Sharpay," interrupted Gabriella. "Can you show us, uh..."

"Pictures of your performance in that play?" cut in Taylor.

Sharpay beamed. "Yeah!"

Gabriella and Taylor grabbed an arm each and ran as fast as they could down the hall. Fortunately, they heard no explosion, meaning Chad did not notice the familiar blonde as the men walked into the living room

Troy frowned at Gabriella's retreating back. Even though she knew Sharpay and Chad had to face each other at one point or another – after all, she was the matron of honor and he was the best man – but, for whatever reason, she was trying to stall that reunion. He sighed.

After Sharpay and Chad broke up, everything shot to hell. Sharpay and Chad broke up very suddenly, and Sharpay had to move in with Troy and Gabriella until she got her own apartment. The two found themselves having to split their time between Chad and Sharpay, as both refused to see each other. For the first month or so, they went along with it, knowing they needed space. But once the summer came and their attitudes had not changed, they grew annoyed.

When Zeke, Jason, Ryan, and Taylor returned for summer break, Sharpay and Chad forced them to choose sides. The tension caused the group's friendship to sever, and soon the four had cut their summer vacations short and returned to their various homes. Gabriella had cried and screamed that night; she blamed Sharpay and Chad for "breaking up the entire group." However, she never mentioned it to their faces, and went along with the two never seeing each other for the next year. Troy knew, though, that she still carried around that bit of anger.

The next time Sharpay and Chad saw each other after the breakup was graduation (how they managed to avoid each other so well baffled Troy, even years later). They didn't speak to each other or even look at each other. The next morning, Sharpay flew off to New York, returning only today.

Troy couldn't blame Gabriella for how she felt; a lot of times, he felt it too. When he would reminisce on high school and their promises to always stay in touch – he knew that had Chad and Sharpay been a little less stubborn, they would all see each other so much more. But those who didn't live in Albuquerque just did not want to be a part of the drama. Troy couldn't blame them, either. Sometimes he contemplated taking Gabriella and moving to China.

But he had a feeling she might be mad.

"I'm gonna get us some beers," Chad announced, standing up. Troy raised his bottle to show he already had one.

Chad walked merrily into the kitchen, a spring in his step, and opened the refrigerator in search of four beet bottles. He was feeling great. His best friends were getting married, he was finally seeing his old friends from high school again, work was going splendidly. He wasn't sure exactly what could ruin his mood.

"I'm gonna get us some beers!"

Chad froze, as an all too familiar voice floated to his ears. He knew that voice. He knew that voice _very _well.

A blonde that he thought he'd never see again – that he hoped, prayed, _wished_ he would never see again – appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. She'd been looking over her shoulder as she entered, smiling widely, but stopped dead at the sight of him, standing at the fridge and juggling four beer bottles.

Her heart pounded up in her throat, and she wasn't sure how long the two stood there for. She hadn't seen him in two years, and talked to him in four. She'd had a feeling that he would be at the wedding but she also planned to prepare herself for their meeting. She was definitely not prepared for this.

"Hi," he said finally.

"Get outta my way," she snapped.

He clenched his jaw, not moving. "Well, you haven't changed," he spat. "Still the same demanding, bitchy girl you were four years ago."

"You bet your ass." She shoved him, and he stumbled.

"What the fuck?"

"You're in my way!"

Both Gabriella and Zeke popped up in the doorway, eyes widening at the view. Gabriella looked worried, but Zeke's face broke into a gleeful smile. "Hey, they found each other!" he yelled. "Come see the explosion!" It sounded like an earthquake as four adults ran as fast as they could to watch the scene unfold.

"What the hell are you doing here, anyway?" ordered Sharpay, holding three beers.

"I live here," he retorted.

She laughed maliciously. "You live here? With Troy and Gabriella?" she sneered, even though she knew her words were false. "Wow, that sucks. That poor, huh?"

"Fuck you. I live in Albuqerque. What are _you_ doing here?" he shot back.

"I'm in town for the wedding. Weren't you invited?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm the best man."

"Well, I'm the maid of honor."

"Oooh, hooray for you."

"What the fuck, Chad? Why the hell are you always so damn sarcastic?"

"Me?!"

"Yes, you!"

Gabriella put her head in her hands. "Oh, God..."

"Jesus, it's like you never left!" he yelled, his voice rising considerably. "This is just like when we broke up."

"Oh, and I guess that's all _my_ fault?" she screeched. "Like you hold none of the blame?"

"I hold about one percent of the blame."

"Like hell you do!"

Throwing his arms up in the air, he grumbled, "Fuck this. I'm outta here."

"Where are you going?" asked Gabriella desperately.

"Away!"

"Oh, come on!" Troy called after him. "You knew she was coming to the wedding!"

"I didn't wanna see her this soon," he growled viciously. "And besides, I figured she'd outgrown her fucking immaturity. Guess not."

"You're not so mature yourself!" she shrieked, but he'd already slammed the door loudly behind him. She brushed past the other six, stomping to her room and also shutting the door very loudly.

There was a few seconds silence as the fight sunk in, and none of them were smiling any longer.

"Oh... my... God," said Taylor finally. She glanced over at Gabriella, who had tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

Gabriella's arms were shaking. "I can't believe this," she said in a low voice. "I can't believe they're doing this to me, on my wedding! _My_ _wedding_! I only get one, you know!"

"Well, that's not necessarily --" began Jason with a smirk, but both Taylor's and Troy's glares silenced him.

"I just... God, I've been so good with all the wedding stuff up until now... messing up the food or the flowers doesn't mean much to me, but... this!" she cried. "_This_, I can't take! I am just, so..." She ran a hand through her hair, messing up her ponytail. "Fuck them."

She stomped down the hall and slammed the door to her bedroom shut.

* * *

**AN:** YAY or NAY? Live up to your expectations? Disappoint you? 

No "UP NEXT"'s as there's only three parts.


	2. Old Friends, Part II

**AN:** Judging by your reviews, you all liked part 1? I'm glad. It was long thought-out. How many of you were surprised by how everyone turned out? I know when I was writing it and I let it "slip" that there was a wedding, a couple people let me know that they figured it wasn't Troy and Gabriella getting married. My unpredictable-ness ceased. I got sick of their "drama" in "Forget Yesterday," so I said screw it and let them get married. Besides, I love Chad and Sharpay more, so they get to have problems now.

Sorry this took a while to post. I am so stuck on part 3. I'm about 14 pages into it, but I decided to post this because I think I know how I'm going to end it. So please review with your thoughts! Ah, it's almost done. Again.

**Title: **_Forever Young  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_One wedding, one breakup, one reunion. Our favorite eight friends reunite for the first time in years. Follow-up to Forget Yesterday.  
_**Genre:** _Humor/Drama  
_**Chapter: **_Old Friends, Part II_

Gabriella, Taylor, and an unfamiliar bleach-blonde woman otherwise known as Jason's girlfriend were in a hotel suite, walking around and tidying the place up a bit in preparation for the upcoming bachelorette party. It was a couple days proceeding the incident concerning Sharpay and Chad, and the recently reunited group of friends had yet to speak about it.

Until then.

"So, uh... Gabriella," began Taylor slowly. "Have you, um... talked to Sharpay about...?"

"Nope," Gabriella responded dissmissively, flipping through the phone book. "Can we hire bartenders in hotel rooms?" she asked quizzically.

Taylor shrugged and sat down on the bed next to Gabriella. "Why aren't you talking to her?"

"Shar-pay?" asked Mikayla in an airheaded tone. "Isn't that a pen?"

She was ignored.

"It doesn't matter," persisted Gabriella. "Really. I'm fine. I'm over it."

"You were pretty pissed a couple days ago," Taylor reminded her.

"Yes," nodded Gabriella. "And now I'm over it."

Taylor frowned. "Yeah, okay. Whatever."

"How many people are you inviting?" asked Mikayla excitedly. "Are there any guys coming?"

Taylor and Gabriella raised their eyebrows at each other. "You're dating Jason," said Taylor slowly. "And... no. It's a bachelorette party."

Mikayla blinked. "... no stripper?"

"A guy stripper?" repeated Gabriella.

Taylor's face lit up. "Hey. That's kind of a good idea."

Mikayla jumped up and down slightly and grabbed the book away from Gabriella. "Let's do it!"

"I don't know if Troy would..." Gabriella began uncertainly.

Taylor held up a hand to silence her. "No. Gabriella, we are getting a stripper. Troy will be fine with it. Hello, the guys are going to a strip club anyway."

Gabriella was silent for a moment as she considered the possibility, and then smiled. "Yeah! You know what, I want a stripper," she said defiantly. "I'm getting married, and this will be my last hurrah."

"Isn't it your _first_ hurrah?" said Taylor coyly.

Gabriella chose to ignore the statement. "So, I'm probably going to need some one's, right?" She grabbed her wallet and sifted through her bills. "Should I get change for this twenty?"

Mikayla stared at Gabriella, her face blank. "You've _never_ had a stripper before?" she asked impassively. Gabriella shook her head. "Were you, like, a lesbian in high school?"

Gabriella levelled Mikayla's stare. "Yes," she deadpanned. "I turned straight six months ago."

Smiling sympathetically, Mikayla said, "Wow. That explains _so_ much."

The door to the suite opened and Sharpay stepped in. "The life of the party has arrived," she said dramatically.

"The party hasn't started yet," Taylor informed her.

"I know. But once it starts, I will be it's life."

"Yeah, yeah," teased Taylor. "The fun of having a stripper is knowing that you have a boyfriend. If you're not dating anyone, it's less dirty."

Sharpay gasped loudly. "A STRIPPER!? Omigosh, can we get a police officer? Oooh, or a firefighter? Firefighter's are _sooooo_ hot."

"Doctor stippers are better," Mikayla threw in dumbly.

* * *

"So, Zeke..." began Jason thoughtfully. He, Troy, Chad, Ryan, Zeke, and Zeke's boyfriend, Brandon, were sprawled around Troy's living room, at the same time the girls were at the hotel. They had a few beer bottles littered about the coffee table, and the TV was turned to a baseball game. "Are you and Brandon going to the bachelor or bachelorette party?"

Zeke gave Jason a look, somewhere between annoyance and boredom. "What do you think, Jason?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking!"

Rolling his eyes, Zeke responded, "We're going to the bachelor party."

"But you like guys," Jason reminded him. Zeke scowled, but Jason didn't notice, and continued, "So, wouldn't you rather go to the bachelorette party where they'll be having a guy stripper?"

Troy straightened up. "They're getting a _stripper_!?"

Chad smirked his way. "Oh, yes, they are. A cop stripper, Taylor says."

Troy clenched his jaw. "Why would Gabriella get a stripper?"

"Because she's about to marry you," Ryan said.

"Yeah, and she's been with you for, like, a HUNDRED years!" Jason added dramatically. "She wants some different ass, if you know what I mean."

Narrowing his eyes, Troy said, "Yes, I know what you mean."

The front door opened and Gabriella strode in, talking loudly a mile a minute. "Hey, Troy. So, the girls and I will probably be too drunk to make it home tonight – scratch that, we _will_ be too drunk to drive home, so don't wait up for me tonight if you're able to make it home. Don't worry, I'll come back as soon as my hangover passes... so, like, four in the afternoon because you know how my hangovers are --"

Troy stood up and marched into the kitchen. Gabriella didn't hear him at first, as she continued to talk to him as if he was in the other room and her back was turned, but she started when she faced him. "Oh, hi." She smiled. "I'm just here to get some clothes for Sharpay and I." She rolled her eyes slightly.

Momentarily forgetting what his intensions were for entering the kitchen, he asked, "Why isn't she here with you?"

She stared at him blankly. "Just _guess_."

He chuckled lightly, and then remembered. His face turned serious. "What's this I hear about you getting a stripper?"

Gabriella giggled but then caught sight of his expression. She frowned. "Wait... are you, like, mad?"

He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. _You're_ going to a strip club!"

Troy opened his mouth, and he sputtered, "Uh... well... yeah, but... I... it's just... um..."

"Come on, Troy," she whined. "Don't get all annoying and controlling again. Remember why we broke up?"

He mumbled, sounding like a child being scolded by it's mother, "Yes."

"Good. Now, I'm going to see a stripper tonight, for one last celebration before we get married," she explained in a motherly tone. "And you are going to see a whole CLUB full of strippers before we get married. But just remember," she added threateningly, holding up a finger menacingly. "If you ever even think about seeing a stripper _while_ we are married, I will personally remove motivation for sex."

He gaped. "...what --?"

She smiled pleasantly again. "Glad you understand." She stood on her toes and pecked him on the cheek, before bustling away toward the bedrooms.

* * *

"Alright, Troy, you ready?" questioned Chad dramatically as he led a group of around ten men up to the entrance of the strip club. The original five were joined again by Brandon and four other men, a couple of Troy's friends from college and work. Most of them looked eager at the looming prospect just feet before them of seeing naked women dancing on poles. Three exceptions were, however, Zeke, Brandon, and Troy.

"I don't know," sighed Troy. "I just don't enjoy looking at women like this when I have Gabriella."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, Troy, you make me sick."

"I can't help who I am!" he cried melodramatically.

Chad hit him upside the head. "Yes, you can!" he snarled. "Troy, you're a twenty-four, normal male with a healthy dose of testosterone, aren't you?" Troy nodded meekly. "Then, what the hell is wrong with you!?"

"I feel guilty."

"Didn't Gabriella _tell_ you it was okay?"

Troy frowned. "Well, yes..."

"And you deserve a little fun, especially if Gabriella is in a hotel room, right now, throwing tips at a police office stripper," Ryan added.

Troy's expression warped into one of determination. "Yeah! If Gabriella can enjoy her stripper, I can enjoy mine!"

Chad and Jason clapped Troy on the back, while the other men pushed him inside.

* * *

"I got a couple complaints about the noise in here... good thing I brought my handcuffs!"

An eruption of cheers bounced off the walls of the hotel suite, making the cries sound louder than they really were. A group of ten or so women, including Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay, and Mikayla, were sprawled around the living room of the suite. Music was blaring from a stereo, and an attractive man dressed in a police officer uniform was dancing in the middle of the room.

Sharpay crawled forward and stuffed a couple of one's into the man's belt. She was dressed in a short nightgown and clutching the stem of her champagne flute.

"Officer, I've been a _bad girl_," one of Gabriella's teacher friends and bridesmaids, Holly, crooned loudly. The stripper shimmied over to her and began dancing in front of her, and loud cheers elicited from the girls again.

"Which one is the bride?" he cried over the noise.

Gabriella's face was red with laughter, and she slumped deep into the couch, giggling drunkenly. Eleven fingers pointed in her direction, and the police officer stripper danced his way over to her. The light from the chandelier above shone on his badge, which read, "Officer: Feel Good." He then ripped his shirt off, exposing his very toned and muscular body. Gabriella stuffed a five dollar bill into his belt. She wasn't exactly sure how to act around a stripper, so she resorted to giggling like a little girl.

One of Gabriella's friends from college, Rachelle, stood up and started grinding the man from behind. Taylor, who was next to Gabriella, grabbed her arm and the two retrieved a couple beers from the mini bar. "Are you liking your bachelorette party?" Taylor asked loudly.

Gabriella nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

"I could've been in the NBA," slurred Troy. He was sitting at a small booth by himself, receiving a lap dance from a dancer. He wasn't paying very much attention, however, and instead was talking. "But when my girlfriend left her dream school for me, I decided she was more important than basketball, yaknow?"

The woman continued to dance on the table, making no indication that she was even listening to him.

"I got lots of calls, though," he continued. "A lot of teams wanted me." He nodded over to the bar, where the rest of his friends were. "That guy over there, though, Chad? He wanted to get drafted." The woman finally stopped her dancing and stood still with her hands on her hips, giving him a dirty look. "But he didn't get any offers." Troy shook his head. "His life kinda went downhill after Sh...Sharpay," he said slowly, his intoxicated state making it difficult for him to string his words together, "dumped him. He's kind of a dick to be around sometimes." Troy frowned.

"Are you gonna tip me?" the woman asked irritably.

"My fiance's all upset about them fighting," Troy said, ignoring her, "She's been pretending for, like, three years that it doesn't, but I know it does. She almost lost it a couple days ago. She'll probably totally lose it any day now." He sighed. "I hope it's not on our wedding day."

"I make most of my money on tips," the woman informed him.

"Dude!" cried Chad, approaching them. "What are you doing? You're depressing the strippers! Depressed strippers make them less hot!" He tossed a couple bills at the woman and she took them, glaring at Troy as she left.

Troy narrowed his eyes at Chad. "You're making Gabriella crazy!"

Chad raised an eyebrow. "_I'm_ making her crazy? You're the one who's been living with her for the past thousand years."

"No, you and Sharpay are making her crazy."

His face darkened at the mention of the blonde's name. "You know what, Troy, you're too drunk." He gazed longingly at the stage, heaving a deep sigh. "Let's get you home."

* * *

The male stripper had long since left, and Sharpay was jerked awake sometime around three in the morning. Her head was pounding from her hangover and for a couple seconds she thought the headache had aroused her. However, then she heard the sounds of someone puking in the bathroom.

She stood up, feeling lightheaded, and ambled into the bathroom, searching for the source of the noise. She prayed it wasn't one of Gabriella's friends that she didn't know, because, if so, she was going to pretend she was sleeping to avoid getting roped into holding their hair back.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one viewed the situation), it was Gabriella that was emptying her insides into the toilet of the suite.

"Ugh, again?" grumbled Sharpay. She sat down next to the toilet and held her hair as Gabriella threw up.

"Sorry," said Gabriella mildly. "Blegh." She flushed the toilet. "Lots of beer and champagne don't mix well." She paused. "Actually, I don't think lots of beer goes with me at all."

"You didn't realize that after Troy's party, oh, seven years ago?" said Sharpay sarcastically.

Gabriella smiled sheepishly. She stood up and stumbled into the main area of the bathroom and turned on the faucet, filling up a glass of water and swishing it around her mouth. She spat the water into the sink.

"Did you have fun tonight?"

Sharpay smirked. "Oh yeah. That stripper was _hot_."

Gabriella exhaled deeply and walked back into the suite. Most of the women were sprawled out on the ground, but the bed was free for the bride-to-be.

"Did _you_ have fun?" Sharpay returned.

"Yeah."

Rolling her eyes, Sharpay said, "You were laughing like a little girl watching a dirty movie the whole time."

Gabriella blushed. "I've never had a stripper before, okay? And it was weird... Troy's the only guy I've ever, like, been with."

"You're getting married, but you're still such a child," sighed Sharpay.

"So are you," mumbled Gabriella before she could stop herself.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, nothing..."

Sharpay furrowed her brow, but let it slide due to Gabriella's massive hangover. "Uh, okay. Feeling better?"

Gabriella nodded, her eyes drooping closed. "Are you ready for your speech tomorrow?"

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Have you looked at the slideshow we made yet?"

"Nah, I'll just... go with the flow. I can think on my feet."

Yawning, Gabriella murmured, "Sounds good..."

"Hey, Gabriella..." began Sharpay quietly, after thirty seconds of silence. "How did you know that Troy was... like... the one?"

"The one?" repeated Gabriella drowsily.

"Yeah. You know. _The_ one."

"I don't know..." Gabriella muttered. She yawned widely. "I just like being with him. I mean, sometimes he pisses me off and I want to do nothing more than bash his stupid little head into the wall, but..." She shrugged. "I love him, and whenever I'm not with him, I miss him."

Sharpay bit her lip. "So... you always think about him, right?"

"Mhm..."

Sharpay was quiet for a few seconds, and then she glanced up. "Hey, Gab--" but she stopped, seeing that Gabriella was fast asleep. She sighed and laid herself down, closing her eyes and trying to sleep.

* * *

It was a little after midday when Gabriella finally returned home, supported by Sharpay. Her head was still pounding and she felt miserable, her night of hard drinking coming back to bite her in the ass.

Troy seemed a little worse for wear himself as he emerged from the kitchen to see Gabriella leaning against Sharpay. He bounded forward and relieved the blonde, guiding his almost-wife into the living to lay her down on the couch while Sharpay went into the kitchen.

Gabriella held a hand to her forehead, groaning. "Blah."

"'Blah?'" Troy repeated. "What is 'blah?'"

"It means, I feel horrible."

"Well, you shouldn't have drank so much," he reprimanded.

She narrowed her eyes. "How do you know I drank a lot?" Troy raised an eyebrow, and she sighed in defeat. "Fine. Well, how was your night at the strip club?"

Troy looked thoughtful. "Okay. I ended up drinking a little too much, too. Apparently the strippers were annoyed that I was talking too much and tipping too little." He shrugged. "So Chad took me home."

"Aww, that's so sweet of him."

He nodded. "Yeah, I told him that," said he sarcastically, and she swatted him. "But then he went back and, well, slept with one of the strippers."

"He _what_!?"

Troy had expected to hear the woman in front him yelp in surprise, but not to hear an echo of it behind him. He whipped around to see Sharpay standing, livid, in the doorway to the living room, gripping a damp towel in her hands.

"Uh... yeah," said Troy uncertainly, glancing back and forth between the two. Gabriella looked at Sharpay warily.

"Why do you care?" she challenged.

Sharpay gaped. "I-I just --" She fell silent, seething. Gabriella almost thought she could see steam coming out of her ears. "He's just so disgusting!" she cried finally, throwing the towel suddenly. It slapped Troy in the face, and by the time he'd removed it from obstructing his vision, Sharpay had already stomped down the hall and slammed the door behind her.

He rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ, all this door slamming is going to make me deaf." He shook his head. "I feel like we're seventeen again." He handed the towel over to Gabriella. "And, ironically enough, we did a grand total of NO door slamming when we were in high school."

"Those two are going to drive me to an early death," Gabriella mumbled, unfolding the warm towel and placing it over her face.

"Does that really make you feel better?" he asked skeptically.

"No," she responded, her voice muffled. "I'm trying to end my life."

Troy pulled the towel away from her face. "Well, we're getting married tomorrow, so that might not be such a good idea."

Gabriella shot up straight. "Tomorrow!" she exclaimed, bolting out of the couch. She ran down the hallway to her room. "The rehearsal dinner's tonight. I look like shit!" she shrieked. "I smell like beer and vomit, and I look like shit!" Troy heard her turn on the shower faucet. "Troy, when I get out, I'm kicking your ass!"

* * *

A couple hours later, Ryan, Taylor, Chad, Jason, Mikayla, Zeke, Brandon, and Holly, along with Troy's parents, Gabriella's mother, and other guests, had gathered at the local church for the rehearsal dinner. Lila and Morris were there as well, and Lila was sitting on a couch in the lobby, looking very irritated indeed. "I cannot believe my baby grandson is getting married in a church," she growled. "I want to know what that girl has been feeding him."

"Why?" asked Becca incredulously.

"I'm convinced she poisoned him," she said. "Brainwashed."

Becca rolled her eyes.

Maria checked her watch anxiously. "They should've been here already..."

The words had barely come out of her mouth when the doors burst open and Gabriella rushed in, looking slightly winded. Troy and Sharpay followed her, the former looking nervous and the latter annoyed.

Troy walked over to Ryan and mumbled, "I have been stuck with two hysterical women in my house for the last five hours. That's more than I ever expected until I had a teenage daughter."

Ryan smirked. "And that is why Taylor and I are not having kids."

Scowling, Troy said, "Chad just _had_ to have sex with that stripper."

"Is that why Sharpay's pissed?" asked Ryan in surprise.

"Okay, let's do a run through of the entrance," the priest spoke up, getting the attention of all guests. "Gabriella, you, as the bride, will naturally be entering last. Troy, you go and wait at the alter." Troy nodded and jogged into the main room of the church. They could see him through the doorways, standing up at the alter and looking rather bored. "Anyone else who is not involved in the wedding, please go and take seats in the front pew." Maria, Becca, Jack, Mikayla, and Brandon all strolled in after Troy, taking seats in the front row.

"So, now we have the bridesmaids and groomsmen," he instructed. The couples paired off as per instructed by Gabriella days earlier: first were Holly and Zeke, arms linked, and behind them stood Taylor in between both Ryan and Jason, and last stood Sharpay and Chad. They, however, had not linked arms and were defiantly not facing each other; instead, Sharpay's arms were folded and she held her nose up high, whilst Chad kept his hands shoved in the pockets of his slacks as he glared at the ground. And finally, in the back, Gabriella stood, holding the arm of her mother's boyfriend of the past three years, Benjamin.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at Sharpay and Chad and shoved Chad lightly. "Stop," she ordered menacingly. He sighed slightly and turned to face forward, but Sharpay did nothing.

Holly and Zeke walked down the aisle first, followed by Jason, Taylor, and Ryan. When it was Sharpay and Chad's turn, Gabriella growled, "Link. Arms."

Sharpay begrudgingly held out her arm. Chad linked his through hers and they walked slowly down the aisle.

"You smell horrible," she hissed.

"Well, you don't have a particularly alluring scent, either," he mumbled back.

She glared straight ahead. "At least I don't smell like I just had sex with a vulgar, trashy _whore_."

"Ah, so _that's_ what this is about?" mused Chad.

"No," said Sharpay shortly. "This is not about you being a hideous man with a penchant for sleeping with women who probably have a hundred different STDs. This is about me still hating you."

"Whatever, Sharpay," Chad said irritably. "Look, stop acting like such a Goddamn victim. We broke up, and now we should just get over it."

She laughed loudly, and a couple of the guests looked her way. "Just like you were so mature about it a few days ago?"

"As opposed to _your_ maturity?"

She scoffs. "Please, Chad, I am clearly the more mature person here. I'm the one who ended our relationship when it needed to. Had it been up to you, we'd still be dating."

He clenched his jaw. "The break-up was amicable."

"Yeah, okay, tell yourself that," she sneered.

In response, Chad yanked his arm away from Sharpay's and continued walking down the aisle with his arms crossed, striding at a faster pace than his compadre so as not to be next to her.

She scowled at his retreating back and sped up, stomping up to him. "Chad Danforth, give me your fucking arm."

"Nope."

"Give it to me."

"Nah."

"CHAD DANFORTH!"

Sharpay's voice rang throughout the church, and everyone else stopped what they were doing to stare. Sharpay and Chad glanced around sheepishly; Troy looked nettled, Ryan amused, and Gabriella was seething. She marched forward, dragging Benjamin with her, and pushed Sharpay. "Go. Stand."

Sharpay quickly clamored over to the alter and stood next to Taylor and Holly, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Chad walked, unperturbed, next to the groomsmen and had no problem keeping his head up high. Gabriella completed her walk down the aisle and Benjamin took his seat, while Gabriella stood next to Troy. No one missed the malicious glower she sent Chad's way.

* * *

About an hour later, the wedding party had migrated to a restaurant a couple blocks away from the church. The back room was rented out, and there were a cluster of small, four-person tables draped in white table clothes, with a single red candle burning in the middle of each one. Troy and Gabriella were sitting together at the table in the middle; Sharpay, Taylor, Holly, and Mikayla were sitting at another, Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Ryan at yet another, while the rest of the wedding party was scattered about. The soon-to-be-newlyweds were beaming, seemingly forgetting the earlier incident.

"So, you two dated each other?" Mikayla asked at her table, leaning forward to speak to Sharpay.

Glancing up quickly and reassuring herself that Chad was involved in a conversation, Sharpay answered, "Yes."

"Wow... he's hot."

Sharpay glared at her. "No. He's not."

Mikayla giggled. "Yes, he totally is. If I wasn't with Jason, I would _totally_ do him."

Sneering, Sharpay said, "Well, get in line. He spends most of his time fucking strippers, so..."

At the sound of the word "stripper," Chad looked up from the table next to hers and narrowed his eyes at Sharpay. She pretended not to notice and took a sip from her champagne flute.

Gabriella leaned back and tapped Sharpay on the shoulder, tilting her head slightly toward the front of the room. A large screen was up against the wall for the slideshow, and on a small table next to it sat a laptop. In front of the screen sat a little projector.

Sharpay gave a very tiny sigh but obediently stood up and walked up to the front of the room. She grabbed a fork and tapped lightly on her glass, attracting the attention of the rest of the wedding party.

"Hello," said Sharpay blandly. "Well, uh... welcome to the... union... or rehearsal dinner for the union, of Troy and Gabriella's marriage. I'm, um, Sharpay... but you all probably knew that. I'm the maid of honor, and, well... basically, I'm here to make a speech and show a little slideshow... thing."

She turned her body slightly and opened up the PowerPoint, flashing the first picture on the screen. It was a photo of Gabriella as a baby, her dark hair tied into a fountain-ponytail at the top of her head. Sharpay clicked the mouse, and the next picture that came up depicted Troy as a baby himself. He was drooling on a small basketball toy, and a light laugh flitted through the crowd.

"Troy and Gabriella have always been... different," she began, as the next picture showed Gabriella at an academic decathlon as a nerdy middle-schooler. The photo then shifted to a low-quality shot of Troy playing in a basketball game. "She was, well... to put it nicely, a huge loser with weird clothes and, like, way too much knowledge for anyone's good. And he was the hot, popular jock that _every_ girl wanted."

"Like you," spoke up Chad. "Remember? You liked him, for, oh, two years."

There was a titter throughout the party and Sharpay shot daggers at him. Gabriella looked desperately at Troy, and, in return, he bopped Chad roughly in the arm.

"Anyway," Sharpay continued irritably, "they were polar opposites." She clicked the mouse and the next photo showed the couple backstage on the opening night of Twinkle Town. "And then came the musical. _My_ musical... but whatever. They tried out and beat me," she added, rolling her eyes, "and it brought them together," she finished melodramatically. "Romantic story of the year, right?"

"The romance gets better," Chad piped up. "Tell them the story of that summer, Sharpay. I'm sure you remember it well."

Gabriella whipped her head around to glare, but he took no notice.

Sharpay leered at him, but did her best to continue with the speech. "And then... uh..." She clicked the mouse again, and a photo taken by one of their school friends at the summer's Staff Party popped up, showing Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Taylor, Ryan, and Chad. The sight of Chad's face caused her to laugh shrilly and cry, "Sorry about that, folks." She curled her lip. "We don't wanna see _that_ guy in our nice little slideshow." She threw her alcoholic beverage at the screen, so that the liquid spilled all over Chad's face. "Moving on."

Gabriella slowly put her face in her hands and shook her head. Troy placed his chin on his palm and rested his elbow on the table, sighing deeply.

Sharpay clicked the mouse again, and a picture of the group at Homecoming their senior year flashed on the screen.

"Oh, I remember this," drawled Chad loudly. "That's when I took you to the dance out of pity, because Zeke cheated on you and you were crying like a pathetic little bitch."

"Yes, you took me because you didn't have a date of your own, did you?" she cooed in a falsely sympathetic voice. "No girl would go with you, would they? You know, it's funny how much you bring up that pity card. Like the pity Christmas gift you gave me? And that pity relationship we had for three years."

Chad rolled his eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, Chad Danforth," she spat, pointing a finger threateningly at him. "You're an asshole, and you know it."

"I know it?" he repeated. "Yeah, okay, I frequently acknowledge the fact that I'm an asshole," he said sarcastically.

"You know what, you need to get off your high horse," she growled, "because you always try and make everything _my_ fault and you take absolutely zero responsibility yourself."

"I could make the same argument for you!" said Chad loudly, standing up. "What about you? You know what _you_ did, don't you? Or do you think that your actions are justified in your own little twisted way?"

"THAT'S IT!"

Everyone jumped and turned around to see Gabriella standing up, her chair on the ground. She was maddened. Troy looked a little frightened of his fiance, gazing at her with his eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline.

Gabriella stomped forward and grabbed Sharpay and Chad by their wrists, yanking them roughly after her, toward the front of the restaurant.

"Ouch! What the hell, Gabriella?" cried Sharpay, trying to wrench her arm out of Gabriella's grasp. In response, Gabriella shifted her arm so that Sharpay's bent back. "SHIT! Are you trying to snap my arm in half?"

"No, I'm trying to kill you, but I don't have a hold of your neck," Gabriella retorted.

She kicked the door to the restaurant open with her foot, earning her a couple weary stares from onlookers. Some kid yelled, "Hey, that's my Chem teacher. Go, Miss Montez!" Gabriella ignored him and stepped out, bringing her arms forward and shoving Chad and Sharpay outside. The two stumbled down the front steps and Sharpay lost her balance. She gave Chad a dirty look as he made no move to help her up.

"I am sick and tired of you two," began Gabriella murderously. "I tried to be cool with your breakup, like, _four_ _years_ _ago_, but it's just getting too ridiculous now. You ruined everything, you know that, right?"

"_I_ didn't --" Sharpay tried to say.

"Shut the fuck up." She didn't even have to yell to get Sharpay to obey. "I swear to God, Sharpay. You have to stop. And you too!" she added to Chad, who had sent the blonde a smug look. "Seriously. You two broke the group apart. I hope you know that. You know why everyone stopped visiting? Because you two made everyone choose sides. You made everything miserable and awkward and just... not the same. Why couldn't you just be fucking mature about it? Jesus Christ, you were twenty-one, and playing the 'you can't be friends with her if you're friends with me' game!" Gabriella started pacing, ignoring the old couple that stepped around her to enter the restaurant, looking at her like she was crazy.

"It's all your fault. All of it. And I remember... after Jason, the last one, left that one summer... I was so mad. _So_ mad. I broke something. I can't remember what it was, but... I was so mad at you two. And Troy calmed me down, but I've always kept a little bit of that anger. You know why? BECAUSE YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" The last sentence came out as a shriek, and Sharpay and Chad looked at her fearfully. "You ruined our friendships. But, you know what, it stops there. You are not going to ruin my wedding because you can't fucking get over your retarded breakup. So you two are going to stay out here and talk it out. With God as my witness, if you don't work out your differences, I am not letting you into my wedding. I will seriously hire a security guard and tell him not to let you in."

"You can't be --" started Chad, but Gabriella's glare silenced him.

"Don't come back in until you can act like normal human beings," she ordered. "And don't give me that 'free country' shit, either." With that, Gabriella turned on her heel and stormed back into the restaurant.

There was a couple moments of uncomfortable silence, as Sharpay and Chad didn't move or face each other at all. The first movement was made by Chad, as he sat down on the bottom step. "So."

"So _what_?" snapped Sharpay.

Smiling sardonically, Chad said, "Well, we sure are off to a great start."

"Oh, please, you started it."

He rolled his eyes. "A very great start."

"Stop with those dumb comments," she demanded.

"Why?"

"Because they're annoying!"

"... so?"

"Ugh, you're so --!"

"What?"

"Just... shut up."

Chad sighed. "Look," he said, with an expression that clearly showed his words were inflicting a great deal of internal pain upon him, "I'm not all that willing to get kicked out of my best friends' wedding, so if you could at least pretend to try and work things out with me, I'll be happy."

Sharpay shrugged. "Fine." She sat down next to him. "Let's work it out."

Neither of them spoke for a good minute, and she chewed on the inside of her cheek, bored.

"Well... we need to think of a place to start," she mused.

Chad was resting his arms on his knees and leaning forward slightly. He was concentrating awfully hard on the sidewalk, and Sharpay graced him with a puzzled stare for a good thirty seconds before turning away, rolling her eyes every so slightly.

"Why... didn't you wanna get married?" asked Chad, barely a decibel above a whisper.

Sharpay reacted, however, as if he'd shouted it. She froze; she became so still that the people filtering in and out of the restaurant were soon bound to wonder if she was a statue or not. Chad turned to look at her expectantly, and she still didn't move.

"Well?" he prodded, a bit impatiently.

Finally, she moved. She dropped her hands and said, "I don't wanna talk about this."

"No, we have to talk about this," retorted Chad instantly, as if he knew what her answer was going to be before she ever uttered it. "Because this is the basis of all of our problems."

"No, it's --" she tried, but he cut across her.

"It is!" he shouted. "You know it is! Everything was going great with us. Seriously, our relationship was perfect." Sharpay bit her lip. "And you somehow found out I was going to propose, and then that was it. Suddenly, we were nothing, and you were gone and living with Troy and Gabriella and I was hating you with everything that I had once loved you with."

She shook her head slowly. "Chad... I can't --"

Throwing up his hands in frustration, he got up and walked a few paces away from her, before turning around again to face her. "Jesus, you're always like this. Just give me a fucking answer."

"I'm always like this?" said Sharpay in an attempt to spin the conversation. "I'm always like what? And care to share some examples?" She stood up to meet his height, even if they were standing feet away from each other.

"You try to avoid your problems, that's what!" he yelled. "You always do everything in your power to not do something that makes you uncomfortable, or that puts yourself on the line."

"What makes you --"

"Like the day we got together. Remember that?" Chad threw in her face. "When you tried to pretend that nothing was wrong after what I said?"

"That's _completely_ different," she said. "You'd already hurt me, and I was just --"

He shook his head furiously. "No, it's not different. On the contrary, it's very much the same. You hate facing stuff. Like, when you were afraid I was going to cheat on you, you made this huge deal about it and it took a freakin' hour of Gabriella talking to you to get you to come to me!"

"An hour? That's an ex --"

"You know what the hell I mean, Sharpay," said Chad through clenched teeth. "You try and avoid everything to keep yourself from getting hurt."

Finally, some emotion returned to Sharpay's face as she glowered at Chad. She took a few steps toward him as she said, "Is that so wrong? Not wanting to get hurt? Jesus, so many fucking people have hurt me in my life. Are you telling me it's really such a bad thing that I want to avoid it? Do _you_ like getting hurt, Chad? Does it _please_ you?"

He scowled. "No. But I know when some things are worth putting yourself out on a limb for."

"Oh, stop with the cheesy lines you stole from stupid chick flicks," she spat.

"Well, you have to stop with the 'everyone is out to get me' act," he returned. "I mean, really, Sharpay, everyone gets hurt. You don't think people have hurt me? You don't think people have hurt Troy, and Gabriella, and Ryan, and Taylor?"

She gaped. "I – of course I know that. I just --"

"Do you know how many people in your life _haven't_ hurt you?" he continued. "Like all the people inside there right now? You trust them all, don't you? You trust for them never to hurt you. So your whole 'I'm so hurt' facade needs to end, because I don't buy it. You're just insecure."

"Yeah, well, I have a right to be insecure!" she shouted. "Because I was never good enough for my parents. My mom was always telling me how I would never be as beautiful, or as successful, or as... anything as her. And she --" However, Sharpay stopped talking abruptly.

"Stop making yourself the victim," said Chad, although his words came out quietly and not nearly as harsh as he wanted to.

Sharpay swiped at her eyes to stop the forming tears from rolling down, and glared at Chad. "Fuck you, I'm not saying this to sound victimized. You want to know why I'm insecure? Yeah, well, I'm telling you. I try not to be insecure, but sometimes I can't help it." She paused. "And also, Troy and Gabriella _have_ hurt me before."

"Yeah, I know, I know," droned Chad. "He didn't want you..."

"God, will you let that go!?" she exclaimed. "You know, you have some insecurities of yourself to work out. I don't like Troy anymore. I'm OVER HIM. I've been OVER HIM for seven fucking years!" She shook her head and exhaled deeply. "They hurt me when they got the leads in the musical," she said lowly. "Musicals were my everything. It was the only thing that ever made my parents proud. And having to go home to tell them I hadn't made Twinkle Town was the worst thing... ever. With Ryan, they said he'd find something else. With me, they said to try better next time." She laughed bitterly. "Troy had basketball, Gabriella had her stupid little science stuff... they just had to take my musicals away, too."

Chad was quiet for a couple seconds as he digested this information, wondering how he never figured all this out about Sharpay when they dated for so long.

"The reason I didn't want to marry you," she began again, "was because of something – surprise, surprise – my mom told me. She said, when I was ten, that I would get married many times in my life, because of my... 'difficult personality,' as she put it. She said some women would have one husband, some would have many, and I was in the second category. I just..." She blinked and finally looked up at Chad. "I loved you, Chad, and I thought that maybe... what my mom said would actually happen. It sounds stupid, but so many other things she said have come true about me. Like how I would never make it in the theatre... I was afraid if we got married, we would eventually get divorced, and I didn't want that to happen. I was hoping that maybe you would never feel the urge to propose, that we could just be together forever, and when you did... I just went with my first instinct and left." She sighed. "I always liked fantasizing with the idea of us being married, but when it actually became real, I just... ran."

Sharpay looked out toward the street, her eyes glassy and unfocused, while Chad gaped down at her. They stood three feet apart, still for somewhere near a minute. Breaking the silence, Chad said, "Sharpay... I --"

"I guess you're right, about my 'running away' thing," she interrupted. "But now you know. So... hopefully tomorrow we won't ruin our best friends' wedding."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked down the steps of the restaurant and toward her car, Chad not moving for a good five minutes after she disappeared from view.


	3. Old Friends, Part III

**AN:** So, it's all over... again. I hope you all enjoyed this very short insight into the group's adult lives. It's not nearly as emotional for me to end this as it was "Forget Yesterday," but then again, this was ten times shorter. I'm glad it's over, though. I love writing these stories, but it's been almost a year. Nice to have the pressure off. I'm not COMPLETELY ruling out any more follow-ups, but I wouldn't really count on it.

Song in this chapter is "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart.

So, hope you like part 3. :)

**Title: **_Forever Young  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_[Follow-up __to Forget Yesterday One wedding, one breakup, one reunion. Our favorite eight friends reunite for the first time in years.  
_**Genre:** _Humor/Drama  
_**Chapter: **_Old Friends, Part III_

"Troy! Get up!"

In response to his fiance's sharp words, Troy jerked awake, sitting up straight. He glanced at his digital clock blearily and saw that it was eight in the morning. "Gabriella... why the hell are you getting up so early?" he complained.

"Because we're getting married today!"

"In nine hours."

"Exactly. Only nine hours!"

He groaned, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. "What exactly do we have to do today? Don't we just show up and, you know, do the thing?"

Narrowing her eyes, Gabriella said slowly, "Are... you... CRAZY!? Most of the rest of our families flew in yesterday and we have to go see them. And I have to get my hair and nails and makeup done, with Taylor and Holly and Sharpay – speaking of," she cried, throwing her hands up and beginning to pace, "I don't even know if Sharpay and Chad are acting like normal people because they were gone when dinner was over, so I don't know if I actually need to hire that security guard to keep them out --"

Troy rolled his eyes and stood up. "Gabriella, you're not really planning on keeping them out, are you?"

"Yes, I am," said Gabriella determinedly. "They nearly ruined my rehearsal dinner. Who knows what they might do during the wedding ceremony. Chad will probably look at her weird and she'll take out her machine gun to shoot him on the spot."

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration," Troy reasoned.

Gabriella gave him a look. "I really don't think it is. I've seen Miss Congeniality and what women can keep in their dresses."

Troy nodded, confused. "Okay..."

"Now, you, go." Gabriella pushed him toward the bathroom. "Shower and brush your teeth. You smell terrible. When you're done, we have to go to the hotel."

"But I don't wannaaaa," Troy whined, shuffling into the bathroom. "I don't wanna see all those annoying family members who only came to take advantage of the open bar and free food."

"Ha, ha, a line straight out of the movies," drawled Gabriella. "Look, I don't care. That's what you do at weddings. You meet with family members who you hate. But even so, I have to pick up Taylor and Holly and Mikayla and your mom and my mom and... a thousand other women for our appointments." She sighed, and then waved her arms again. "So, GO!"

* * *

Gabriella half-dragged Troy into the lobby of the hotel that all the out-of-towners were staying at. Troy looked like a child at a dentist appointment, and Gabriella had a forced smile on her face. All of the repressed stress in the months leading up to the wedding had finally come out, and she looked like she was going to lose it soon.

Not counting the night before, when she _did_ lose it.

"Troy!" came a woman's yell. Troy turned his head and groaned.

"That's my Aunt Leah," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "My mom's sister. The one who kept her religion."

Gabriella gasped. "The one who Lila didn't decide to live with, and thus inflicting years of torture upon us!?"

"The very one."

They halted their conversation, as Leah bustled over and threw her arms around Troy's neck. "Oh, Troy, you're all grown up! I never would've thought that you would get married before my Zachary."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Zachary..." she mouthed.

A very familiar man appeared at Leah's shoulder. "Okay, mom," he urged, "don't kill him."

Zac, Troy's cousin whom Gabriella had met back at Lila's wedding, peeled his mother away from Troy. He glanced casually over at Gabriella, but did a double take.

"Gabriella?" he repeated in surprise.

She half-smiled. "Um... hi, Zac."

Zac stared. "Are you Troy's...?"

"Yup."

"But... at the wedding..."

Troy draped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "We were taking a break."

Zac blinked. "So... you were the ex."

"Bingo."

"Good memory," commented Gabriella.

"Um..." Zac looked incredibly awkward.

He was saved, however, by a large crowd exiting the elevator. "Gabriella, we're ready," Taylor called. She was accompanied by Holly and Mikayla, a few other women family members who were also getting their hair and makeup done, and the men – Chad, Ryan, Jason, Zeke, and Brandon. The men were going to pick up their tuxedos before heading over to Troy's house to get dressed. "Where's Sharpay?" asked Taylor, glancing around.

"She's meeting us there," said Gabriella shortly. She saw Chad look down, and spun around to face him. "Speaking of, did you two work everything out? Do I need to make some security calls?"

"We worked it out," he mumbled.

"Good. And if you fight _once_ – no, if I even smell the _start_ of a fight – I will kick you out. Understand?"

"Gabriella," said Troy warningly, grabbing her arm.

She glared. "I'm serious, Troy."

"Bridezill-aa," sang Taylor.

"Shut up. Okay, let's go."

The members of Troy's extended family, who had never met Gabriella before, looked slightly weary as they followed the younger women out of the lobby, leaving behind Troy and his friends, and Zac.

Zac shuffled his feet. "So..."

Chad smirked. "This is so awesome."

* * *

The women of the wedding were at Lisa's Hair, Nail, and Wigs Salon in Albuquerque, a few hours before the wedding. Gabriella had booked appointments for all the women over the span of three hours, basically renting out the entire salon. Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay, Becca, and Maria were getting their hair and nails done at the same time, while Holly, Mikayla, and other family members were getting pedicures on the other side of the salon.

"Sharpay," said Gabriella rigidly, "You worked everything out with Chad, right?"

"There wasn't much to work out," the blonde mumbled.

Gabriella whipped her head around the glare at the woman next to her, her hair pulling as the stylist was in the process of straightening a lock of hair. "What?"

"Bridezilla, bridezilla, bridezilla," Taylor chanted under her breath.

"Shut up," snapped Gabriella again. "_Well_?" she directed toward Sharpay.

Rolling her eyes, Sharpay said, "Yes, okay? Yes. We worked everything out. There will be no yelling at each other at your wedding."

"Good. Because if you thought I was scary yesterday..." Gabriella trailed off threateningly.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sharpay snarled suddenly to her stylist. "I don't want curls like that!"

"But --" the woman stammered. "You said --"

"No, no, I didn't say that at all," Sharpay countered. "I want big, full curls. Not those gross, tight ones."

"O-okay."

Sharpay huffed. "There. That isn't too hard a concept to grasp, is it?"

Taylor noticed Sharpay's stylist exchange an irritated glance with her own, and snickered.

* * *

"Pictures. Come on, everyone, PICTURES!"

Troy scowled at Chad. "I can't wait until this whole wedding thing is over and Gabriella goes back to normal."

"Sex isn't better when she's angry?"

"Are you kidding?" cried Troy. "There _is_ no sex when she's angry."

Chad whistled. "Rough."

"Rough is what I wish it was."

"Nice."

"Troy, front and center!" ordered Gabriella sharply. "Men are up first."

Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan all stepped forward for their pictures in front of the church. Gabriella was wearing her strapless wedding dress and her hair was perfectly done; she would look beautiful, except her expression was anything but jubilant and excited. On the contrary, she looked rather annoyed.

"Gabriella, be _happy_," urged Sharpay, standing next to the bride. She was dressed in her ruby colored maid-of-honor gown, which hugged her upper body and was cut at the knees.

"I'm happy," Gabriella responded snappishly. "Don't I _look_ happy?"

"Nope," said Sharpay bluntly.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes, but didn't respond.

There was a couple seconds of silence, before Sharpay said, "So, uh... I was wondering..." She paused, cleared her throat, and continued, "Do you think I could stay with your for a few more days? Or like... a few weeks?"

"What? Why?" asked Gabriella quickly, turning her neck to look at the blonde so quickly that one might think she'd experienced whiplash.

"I... well..." said Sharpay slowly. "I kind of got evicted from my apartment, like... the day before I came here."

"You did?" Gabriella repeated, surprised. "But... why?"

Swallowing, Sharpay explained uncomfortably, "Well, I haven't exactly been making it in the theatre... I've been living off being a waitress, and for whatever reason I don't make much tips --" as she took a breath, Gabriella rolled her eyes in amusement, "-- and my apartment is kind of expensive... and I couldn't make the payments..."

"So you wanna stay with us until you can get back up on your feet?" Gabriella finished. Sharpay nodded appreciatively. "Yeah, of course, Sharpay. Are you... thinking about going back to New York?" she asked coyly.

Sharpay shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I just don't think that the theatre is really for me. I need to find something else for me, and I think I can find it here."

Gabriella nodded. "So, are you gonna stay --"

"Not forever," Sharpay interrupted. "Just until I get going again."

"Mhm," mumbled Gabriella, not convinced. She glanced around and saw the men still getting their pictures taken. Quickly switching back to Bride Mode, she bitched, "Okay, okay, enough! If you keep this us, half the photo album will be of you five!"

* * *

"The wedding is starting in five minutes. Places!"

Taylor rolled her eyes at Sharpay. "I've never seen a bride so bitchy."

Sharpay smiled back. "Yeah, you'd think Gabriella would be the kind of bride who gets scared before her wedding."

"She's acting the way I'd expect _you_ to act," Taylor commented.

"Yeah, me." Sharpay forced a laugh.

The entire wedding party, minus the groom, was grouped in the church's lobby, waiting for the wedding march to begin and cue their entrance.

"You have the rings?" Gabriella snapped to Chad.

"Yes," sighed Chad tiredly.

"Gabriella," Benjamin said gently. "Calm down. Everything's going to be fine."

Gabriella glared at him. "Oh, shut up, Benjamin. If you're gonna scold anyone, scold them!" She pointed menacingly at Chad and Sharpay. "They made me crazy. I was _fine_ until they stressed me out and aged my skin about ten years in five days. If I get wrinkles in my twenties, I will _kill_ you," she threatened them.

Benjamin eyed her wearily, and Sharpay could tell that he was not looking forward to escorting her.

"Goddamnit, this stupid veil," swore Gabriella under her breath, swatting at the translucent fabric in front of her face. "I can't wait until we kiss, because I'm seriously throwing this thing across the room." She paused. "Maybe it'll hit Lila in the face."

"Come on, stop complaining," soothed Taylor. "When you walk down the aisle, you're supposed to be _glowing_, not glowering."

The organ in the church started playing, and Gabriella ignored Taylor's comment. "Places! Hurry! Go!"

Everyone obediently scrambled to get in line, linking arms with their respective partner, or partners. Zeke and Holly slowly entered the church first, walking slowly to the rhythm of the song. A few seconds later and Ryan, Taylor, and Jason trailed.

Chad held out his left arm to Sharpay and she took it awkwardly. The two had not spoken since their talk the night before, and Sharpay was staring straight ahead determinedly.

They followed the rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen into the church, silent, until Chad muttered, "How are you feeling?"

"Amazing," said Sharpay shortly.

Out of the corner of his mouth, Chad said quietly, "Look, I'm really sorry for last night. I --"

"Chad, don't," she interrupted. "If we _have_ to talk about this, we can't do it now."

"Fine," he lamented, and they continued their walk. Usually, Sharpay loved attention, but at this moment in time, she didn't like the hundreds of pairs of eyes burning into her body from the wedding guests. She nearly sighed in relief as she two reached the alter. "We made it up without you yelling at me this time," Chad mumbled. She glanced over and saw him giving her a tiny smile. She sent the smallest of ones back his way, and, as Chad took his place behind Troy, he wondered if she'd really smiled at him, or if it had been a trick of the light.

Chad clapped Troy on the back in a congratulatory manner as Gabriella appeared in the doorway. With Benjamin on her arm, she beamed around the church and started her walk down the aisle.

As soon as she'd turned the corner and into the room, all of Gabriella's pervious stresses and annoyances seemed to vanish. She glanced around the church, seeing everyone's heads swivel in her direction and they made to stand up; she looked over at Troy and saw him staring at her. He'd already seen her in her dress, made up for the day, but something about seeing her at that moment was different. She was finally smiling, genuinely ecstatic, behind her veil. He couldn't stop from staring at her, not even registering as she kissed Benjamin on the cheek and met him at the alter.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hey," he smiled, taking her heads.

"We are gathered here today, to join in the union..."

Sharpay only half-listened to the ceremony. She held her own flowers, as well as Gabriella's, in her hands and stared off into space. Her eyes were glassy as she focused on a random candle in the distance. This could've been her up here. She'd had that chance. And she let her _mother_ get in the way of that. Her mother, the one she hadn't seen since she moved to Washington four years ago. Her mother, the one who told her she wasn't good enough for Julliard, or Broadway. Her mother, the one who pulled her aside halfway through her freshman year of college to ask when she was going to dump Chad, because, even though he was "cute," he was hardly first-husband material.

Sharpay clenched the flowers she was holding tightly, so tightly that after a few seconds her palms went numb. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, and she had no idea why she ever let her mother get to her. She just allowed her to keep kicking her and bringing her down, and, no matter how many times it happened, she still found herself believing everything her mother said.

She glanced up to see Chad, watching the ceremony, and she lowered her eyes in shame. She found herself at that second, if possible, hating her mother even more. Her mother, in hurting her, had indirectly hurt Chad. She knew, even as she was screaming at Chad three years ago about how she was moving out whilst packing as many belongings as she could, that she had broken Chad's heart. She knew that breaking up with him with no explanation, on the brink of his proposal, has crushed him inside. She could see it the next time she laid eyes on him, at graduation, when he'd stared at her so icily that she shivered. For the first time ever, Sharpay's mother hadn't just hurt Sharpay, but she'd hurt someone else. And Sharpay wasn't sure if she could ever forgive her for that.

"Rings, please."

Sharpay jerked out of her thoughts and she looked around sheepishly. It didn't look as if anyone had noticed her space-out.

"The rings?" said Chad fearfully, patting the breast of his suit.

Gabriella's angelic expression switched to murderous in the blink of an eye as she leered at Chad. "_You said you had them_," she hissed.

Chad laughed. "I have them. Just messin' with ya, _Gabs_." He extracted the rings from his pocket and handed them over to the priest as Gabriella sent Chad another dirty look at the sound of her much-hated pet name.

Catching Sharpay's eye, Chad smirked. She smiled back at him, for a longer period of time, so he was sure he hadn't imagined it. She finally tore her eyes away in time to hear the priest say, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Troy reached forward and tossed the veil over her head, bending down and kissing her. The guests broke out into applause and cheers, standing up and whistling. Gabriella smiled against Troy's mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"The honeymoon hasn't started yet," Sharpay reminded the couple, and they broke apart. Gabriella gave her a look, but it was not nearly as dangerous as it would have been half an hour ago. Her face shone as she and Troy grabbed hands and walked down the aisle of the church, the wedding party following them, and finally, the guests.

Chad touched Sharpay's arm as they went and grinned at her. "How much you wanna bet Gabriella kills me tonight?"

Sharpay laughed. "I don't think she wants to throw away her week in Hawaii for jail. We're looking at your murder happening _after_ the honeymoon."

"Good point," Chad observed. "So, hey, it looked like you were going to fall asleep during the ceremony. Penny for your thoughts?"

Taken aback, Sharpay opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before answering. She hadn't been aware that anyone had noticed her. "Oh, I... just... nothing."

"That was a whole lot of nothing to be thinking about," he said slyly.

She smiled weakly. "Yeah..."

* * *

The reception hall looked exquisite; the table clothes were snow-white, the candles ruby red, and there were white and red balloons tied in groups of four all around the room. There were dozens of small, eight-person tables scattered throughout the room, and one long table at the front. A DJ booth was on the adjacent wall, and a large dance floor took up about a quarter of the room. Most guests had already arrived at the reception when the wedding party entered.

"Wow, it looks beautiful," breathed Taylor in astonishment as she and Ryan walked in.

"Makes you reconsider marriage, doesn't it?" joked Ryan.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Nope."

Sharpay had a similar view to Taylor's as she walked in. "This is nice," she noted. "I didn't think Troy and Gabriella had it in them to plan a _nice_ wedding."

"By nice you mean...?" asked a voice from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Chad.

"Nice as in... impressively decorated," she responded. "Really, I was expecting the color scheme to be something horrible, like blue and purple --" she missed the glare sent her way by Becca, "-- but this is... just... nice."

"Glad you approve," sneered Gabriella from behind them. "Now, get away from the entrance, we have to greet people."

"Damn, Gabriella," said Sharpay, stepping further inside the ballroom. "You're really starting to sound like me."

"Well, repressing three years of anger towards you caused me to somehow... become you."

Troy glanced at her, biting his lip. "Are you gonna be like this forever?"

"No. Probably when I spend some time away from _these two_," she glared, "I'll get back to normal."

Whistling, Troy said, "Oh, good. I don't want to have accidentally married Sharpay."

Gabriella eyed the other couple. "What are you still doing here? Take your seats, get some hors d'oeuvres!"

The two rushed off, side-stepping other guests and weaving through crowds on their way to the head table. Sharpay kept her pace quickened, forcing Chad to jog slightly to keep up with her. She took her seat on the bride's side of the table, next to Taylor. Chad was supposed to sit three seats down from her, but instead he sat down next to Sharpay.

She blinked at him. "I think that's the bride's seat."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "She's busy."

"And why do you feel drawn to her seat?"

"Because Jason's making out with Mikayla, and Ryan's making out with Taylor, and I fear Zeke might soon make out with Brandon..."

"Well, Chad," began Sharpay, reaching for her glass of white wine, "_I'm_ not going to make out with you, so your left out feelings will not be satisfied here."

"I'm not left out," he said defensively. "I just don't think a lot of conversation is going to be made when everyone else's mouths are otherwise occupied."

"Ah."

Chad took took a sip from his own wine. "Well, who would've thought we'd be on --" he gasped dramatically, "--_ speaking terms_?"

She had been thinking the exact same thing, and the fact that the two hadn't talked normally in so long made her feel a little uncomfortable. "Certainly," she said quietly, "not me."

He sent her the smallest of gazes before looking out in front of him. "Well, it's kinda nice to not be screaming at you," he said. "You have to admit that's a plus."

Sharpay placed her glass back on the table. "Chad."

"Hm?" he asked mildly.

"What are you doing?"

He turned to her. "I'm drinking some wine. What are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"You mean... talking to you?"

"Yeah."

He thought her question over for a couple seconds. "I... didn't realize I'm not supposed to?" he tried slowly.

"Come on, Chad," she said. "We broke up and hated each other for so long, and now it's... back to the way it was?"

"Don't you want that?" he inquired. "I mean, wasn't the way everything was good?"

She swallowed. "Well, the thing is... it can't just go back to the way it was."

"And why not?" he asked, suddenly harsh. He shifted his body so that he was facing her head-on. "Why is everything always so complicated?"

"Because it just is!" she cried. "We spent three years not even speaking. We can't just, like, move in together tomorrow."

It was his turn to raise his eyes to the ceiling. "Yeah, because _talking_ typically leads to joint housing."

"Look, I didn't tell you those things so we could start over," she snapped. "I told you so we would stop fighting. So stop trying to get all lovey-dovey with me."

He stared at her evenly, levelling her gaze. Finally, he said, "Fine," in an abrupt tone, half-standing up and sliding over two seats to the best man's chair.

Sharpay sighed in irritation, taking a sip of her wine. Taylor, who was next to her, leaned over and murmured out of the corner of her mouth, "What. Are. You. Doing?"

"What?"

Taylor just clicked her tongue, annoyed. "If you don't know, I won't tell you," she chanted.

Sharpay blinked slowly. "Taylor," she began, frustrated. "I'm really not in the mood for your weird little games or whatever, so if you have something to tell me, just say it. If not, go back to sucking face with my brother."

Pouting that her plan hadn't worked, Taylor said, "Okay." Lowering her voice, she continued, "Look, you and Chad clearly still like each other --"

"I'm gonna stop you there," interrupted Sharpay. "We're not seventeen anymore. This isn't some stupid little on-and-off-relationship tag that Troy and Gabriella used to play. This is real. We didn't work, okay? It's over."

"Well, I don't believe you," Taylor retorted.

"Well, it's true," said Sharpay in a mocking tone. "Not every couple that dates in high school lasts, you know. You and Ryan, and Troy and Gabriella are rare exceptions. It can't happen to all of us."

"There can't be three rare exceptions in the same group?" Taylor challenged.

Staring her down, Sharpay said, with finality, "No. There can't."

* * *

"Are you enjoying yourself?" asked Gabriella of Sharpay, as the two women headed over to the buffet.

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah. It's a really nice wedding," she said earnestly.

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks."

"Are you back to your old nice self?" asked Sharpay as they slowly moved down the line. "Because I liked it when _I_ was the bitch, and you were only the bitch when I annoyed you.

Laughing, Gabriella responded, "Almost there. But if I see that aunt of Troy's stuff _one more chicken leg_ into her purse, I think I'm going to explode."

Sharpay stopped in her track and Gabriella bumped into her. "What?"

The blonde didn't answer; she simply pointed. Standing on her toes, Gabriella spied Mikayla making out with Troy's cousin, Zac, at the end of the buffet.

"What are you doing!?" screeched Gabriella, so that the two jumped apart. "You – you're dating Jason!"

"Oh." Mikayla blinked. "Well, we broke up."

"You... what?" stammered Gabriella. She and Sharpay glanced up to the head table, where Jason was sitting with a deep frown. Ryan, Chad, and Zeke all looked annoyed, while Chad and Taylor looked as if they were trying very hard not to laugh. "No. No, no, no, I don't want any drama at my wedding! Why are you doing this? WHY must you create drama!?"

"No drama," mumbled Mikayla, pressing her mouth to Zac's again. Gabriella gritted her teeth together and marched, holding her dress up to prevent herself from tripping, up to the table. "You and Mikayla broke up?" she seethed. "You couldn't wait until tomorrow? Or at least after the reception?"

"She dumped me," he said miserably.

Gabriella plopped down into her seat. "So?!" she exclaimed. "Why'd you let her? Be a man, Jason. You should've said something uber-romantic to sweep her off her feet and keep her around for at least a couple more hours."

"Jason, romantic?" grinned Chad. "Ha. You're talking about a guy who didn't have sex until he was nineteen."

"Shut up."

"Well," said Gabriella huffily, "please don't have a screaming fight with her during the toasts, or I will skin you alive."

Taylor smirked at Sharpay. "Wrong couple..."

"Shut up," echoed Sharpay, keeping her head down.

* * *

"And now, Troy and Gabriella Bolton will share their first dance as husband and wife."

The lights dimmed, the volume of the speakers was turned up, and the song "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross began playing. Troy and Gabriella walked into the middle of the dance floor, beaming, and put their arms around each other. His left hand clasped together with her right, they slowly swayed in a circle to the music, with him whispering steadily in her hair.

Sharpay and Taylor watched dreamily from the edge of the dance floor. "So romantic," sighed Sharpay.

"Remember when they broke up, on Christmas?" reminisced Taylor. "And I told you that we would still be talking about how you tried to steal Troy from her that one summer at the wedding? And you said there wouldn't be a wedding anymore?"

Chuckling slightly, Sharpay said, "Yeah. And, ironically enough, it _was_ brought up." She rolled her eyes. "I guess no one will ever let that die."

"Nope," said Taylor conversationally. "Never."

Other guests had started to pair off and danced around the perimeter of the dance floor, Troy and Gabriella remaining in the middle. Ryan came by and grabbed Taylor's hand, leading her away. Sharpay spied Jack and Becca, Lila and Morris, Maria and Benjamin, Mikayla and Zac – although the last couple wasn't so much dancing as trying to suck each other's faces clean off their bones.

Sharpay rubbed her arm as she watched all the couples, feeling significantly alone. She jumped nearly a foot in the air as a cold hand touched her shoulder. Glancing around, she saw a nervous Chad grinning at her. "Wanna dance?"

She hesitated before affirmatively answering. It's just a dance, she reasoned. A dance never hurt anyone.

He took hold of her wrist, opting not for the intimate connotation that hand-holding suggested and instead for a more friendly gesture. They took a few steps onto the dance floor before cautiously putting their arms around each other and moving slowly to the rhythm of the music.

"Are you having fun?"

Sharpay smiled. "I'd need two hands to count all the times I've been asked that tonight."

He laughed, and they lapsed back into silence.

The longer they danced, the more Sharpay became aware that this was _Chad_. The man who she'd dated, kissed, made love with at another point in her life. And here she was, one hand resting on his shoulder, another clasped in his hand, their bodies pressed up against each other. The thought that they were so close again, physically, caused her heart to race.

"So... during the wedding..." said Chad suddenly. "You said we could talk. Later. Is later, like... now?"

Sharpay bit her lip; great. She should've known this was coming.

"Chad, I don't --"

"Don't do this," he said in a low voice. "We have to talk about it."

"I --" She swallowed. "What more is there to talk about?" she asked thickly.

He stared at her, unblinkingly and piercingly. "You told me, last night, that we broke up because of your mother." He paused, waiting to see if she would object. When she didn't, he continued. "That means that you still..."

"I can't --"

"I don't care what you say," he said, and she felt his body tense up through his shoulder. "Because I still care about you."

Sharpay shook her head slowly. "How can you?" she asked. "Just days ago, you hated me." She let out a bark of laughter. "Hell, _yesterday_ you hated me."

"I know," Chad admitted. "I do... I just..." He ceased talking for a few seconds, and then began over again. "I'm not saying that I feel the same way about you that I did three years ago. It'll take a while to build up that type of trust and adoration again." She looked down, ashamed. "But... we have such a strong foundation. And I can't just throw that away."

"But how can you throw away the last three years in twenty-four hours?" she challenged.

"I can't... completely," he admitted. "But I'm not asking for us to get back together."

Taken aback, she stared up at him. "Wait, you're not?"

He shook his head. "We're not ready for that."

"No, we're not," she agreed, with relief.

"So..." he urged, looking down at her. "I know that you're leaving soon, but..."

"Um, actually," she interrupted. "I'm, uh, living with Gabriella and Troy for a while. I kind of... well, it's just, New York isn't really for me, I guess."

Chad slowly smiled. "You're staying here?"

She blushed and looked down. "Yeah." She focused in on their feet; her right foot was in between his feet, like a sort of abstract puzzle that somehow fit together perfectly. "But, still." She looked up, jerking her head to move her bangs away from her face. "We shouldn't jump into anything."

He nodded in agreement. "Let's take it slow."

"I realize it'll be hard for you to give yourself to me again," she said quietly. "I know that it's my fault."

Chad sighed. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry," she said. They stopped their swaying, so that they were standing still, their arms still around each other. "I really am."

"I know."

Glancing over her shoulder, Sharpay felt heat creep up her neck. No one else was still dancing; they'd all sat down to mingle, and Sharpay and Chad were the only ones still on the dance floor. She instantly took a step back, her arms dropping from him, and cleared her throat.

"Maybe we should, uh... take our seats," she said in a strangled voice. Keeping her head down, she power-walked over to the head table and sat down, immediately sticking her face into her wine glass.

"Wow, took you guys a good five minutes," Taylor mumbled.

"Shut. Up."

* * *

Gabriella stood at the top of the dance floor, all of her unmarried women friends gathered in a cluster behind her. "Ready?" she called, holding her bouquet of flowers up against her chest.

Taylor and Sharpay stood on the outskirts of the crowd, arms crossed and faces holding expressions of severe boredom.

"You don't wanna catch it?" asked Taylor unenthusiastically.

"Nope." Sharpay grinned. "Who do I have to marry, anyway?"

Smirking, Taylor teased, "I saw you dancing with this guy for a loooong time earlier..."

"Do I have to tell you to shut up _again?" _exhaled Sharpay. "I've lost count how many times I've said it today..."

Gabriella bent down and tossed the bouquet as hard as she could behind herself. The flowers went flying, and they were heading right for Sharpay. She stared at it as it came closer... and closer... she held up her hands as it neared her face --

But someone jumped in front of her and snatched it out of the air before it landed in Sharpay's hands. There was a squeal, and Mikayla jumped up and down happily. She ran over to Zac and threw herself at him, furiously kissing him, the flowers dangling in her hand.

"Wow, it's like she's trying to suck his food out of his stomach," remarked Taylor in disgust. "Poor Jason..."

Sharpay was only half-listening. Her hands remained in mid-air, and she was staring at them. She could try and kid herself by saying that she'd only raised them in self-defense, but she knew that it wasn't true. She instinctively looked around to the head table, searching for a familiar face. She found it, watching her.

Her hands falling limply to her side, she looked away.

* * *

Gabriella collapsed into her seat, letting out an exhausted breath. "Did you see that group of wild cannibalists?" she asked the man next to her.

"You mean the women?" Troy smirked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "The way they all dived for a simple gathering of flowers! You'd think I was starving them, and tossing around their only food for the next month." She shook her head. "I'm surprised limbs weren't ripped apart and ingested."

Troy wrinkled his nose. "Okay, okay. I get it."

She looked around, and stared at him, unblinkingly.

"What?" he asked. "Did I do something?" He looked nervous. "Uh... if you wanna talk about people eating each other... you can. I'm sorry!"

"We're married," she said flatly.

"Oh." He sighed in relief. "I thought I was in trouble."

"You're my husband," Gabriella said.

Troy nodded slowly. "Yes," he agreed. "That's generally what happens when two people get married..."

"I'm your _wife_!" she cried. "I'm somebody's wife! Wow." She fell back against her chair, looking dazed. "I never thought I'd get married."

"Never?" he said skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "Never."

"Well." He leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. "Glad I could prove you wrong." She smiled, and he kissed her again. "So, wanna start trying for kids?"

She made a face. "Are you joking?"

"Come on."

"Um. No."

* * *

"You guys," said Taylor, as the whole group was gathered in one place for the first time that night. Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, and Taylor were sitting at the head table, and Ryan, Zeke, Chad, and Jason were standing in front of it. Chad was leaning forward, resting his elbows, in front of Sharpay, and Zeke was leaning on the table sideways, next to Troy. "I'm so glad we're all here, tonight. Like, together, you know?"

There was a titter of agreement, and Chad and Sharpay looked down, apologetically.

"You have to visit more often," said Gabriella pleadingly, smiling sadly. "I missed you all so much when you were gone."

"I missed you guys, too," Jason admitted.

"Me too," Taylor said, and Ryan and Zeke nodded as well.

"Maybe we could work something out," Ryan suggested. "Think of a couple times every year that we can come down to visit." He looked around. "We can't let what happened before, happen again."

Another flitter of agreement.

"We can talk about that tomorrow," said Gabriella. "I don't wanna think about how, in a day, half of you will be gone." She glanced around. "Let's just enjoy our wedding, okay?" She looked over at Troy and beamed. "Our _wedding_."

"I can't believe two of us are married," said Taylor, shaking her head. "We are _so_ damn old. Remember when we camped out on the football field?" She laughed. "I never would think that we'd mature enough to get married."

"Mature?" repeated Troy. "Oh, we're not mature."

Jason nodded in agreement. "He's true. Last week, I didn't leave my apartment for two days because I was playing World of Warcraft."

There was a small silence. "Oh..." said Gabriella, frowning at him. "Well... most of us are a little more mature than that."

Chad snickered at him.

A soothing, familiar tune floating through the speakers of the DJ booth, and Gabriella and Taylor immediately looked at each other, their smiles wide. "How about one more group dance?"

Zeke looked at them like they were crazy. "Don't you think we're a little old for that?"

"No," said Gabriella shortly. She stood up, gathering her dress in her minds, and walked toward the dance floor. Taylor followed, dragging Ryan with her. Sharpay stood up too, she and Chad walking shyly after them.

_May the good Lord be with you, down every road you roam._

Gabriella threw her arms around Troy's neck and put her face right up to his, beaming. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

_And may sunshine and happiness, surround you when you're far from home._

Taylor wrapped her arms around Ryan's waist, placing her chin on his chest so that she looked right up at him. "Promise me one thing?"

"What?"

She smirked. "We'll never be mushy as Troy and Gabriella."

"Done."

"And that we'll never be as annoyingly dramatic as Sharpay and Chad."

He laughed. "No worries there."

_And may you grow to be proud, dignified and true._ _And do unto others, as you'd have done to you._

Sharpay and Chad stood a little awkwardly next to each other. "Jesus, you've been more quiet and shy than you normally are," he remarked.

"I know," she murmured, her head down. "I just feel a little weird around you, with our... history..."

"Well, if we're going to start over," Chad said, "_slowly_," he added quickly, "we have to fix that." He stepped forward and put his arms around her, hugging her against him. At first, she was stiff, but slowly she relaxed and put her arms around his waist.

_Be courageous and be brave, and in my heart you'll always stay,_  
_Forever young, forever young, forever young, forever young._

Jason looked darkly at Mikayla kissing Zac. "I have to fly home with her tomorrow. Right next to me."

Zeke laughed. "Wow. That really sucks."

"Where's Brandon?"

Rolling his eyes, Zeke said, "He went back to the hotel. He doesn't really like weddings." Zeke paused. "I'm thinking of breaking up with him."

It was Jason's turn to laugh. "You may be gay, and have seven more years on you, but you still don't have a lot of respect for people, do you?" He shrugged. "Well. Do it after your flight home."

_May good fortune be with you, may your guiding light be strong._  
_Build a stairway to heaven, with a prince or a vagabond._

"Look at them," giggled Gabriella, pointing at Sharpay and Chad, who were embracing each other in the middle of the dance floor. "It's like we're at our prom again."

Troy shook his head, lightly smiling.

_And may you never love in vain, and in my heart you will remain,  
Forever young, forever young, forever young, forever young._

Chad pulled back and glanced down. Sharpay looked up curiously, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when Chad bent down to kiss her. She brought her hands up to his neck, deepening the kiss, and finally pulled away after a few long seconds. "Wow," she said, her lips slowly forming a smirk. "I see that you haven't lost any of your amazing skills."

"Now, there's the sharp-tongued Sharpay I remember," he grinned.

_Forever young, forever young._

"Hey, so, I know we're taking it slow," she said, standing on her tip-toes and putting her mouth up to his ear. "But if you sleep with any more strippers, I'm still keeping your offer close to heart."

"What offer?"

"The one where if you cheat on me, I'll torture you."

He nodded. "Ah, yes, I remember that one."

_And when you finally fly away, I'll be hoping that I served you well._

Chad cleared his throat. "So, you know how, yesterday, you said I have some insecurities of my own?"

She nodded against his chest.

"Well..." He swallowed. "I've always told you that I started... um... liking you the summer before our senior year, remember?" Sharpay pulled away and looked up at him as he continued. "Well. That's kind of, um, not true. I kinda liked you before... like, in our freshman year. Remember when we first met, and I wasn't, like, an ass to you?"

"Vaguely..."

"Yeah..." He cleared his throat. "That's because I liked you. Even though you were a total bitch, I kinda liked you. But then you said you liked Troy, so..."

Sharpay stared at him, her lips parted slightly and her eyes wide. "What?"

Chad squirmed. "Don't make me say it again."

"Chad Danforth, that is the most romantic thing you've ever said," she breathed, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her mouth hard against his.

_For all the wisdom of a lifetime, no one can ever tell._

Taylor's mouth dropped at the sight of Sharpay and Chad. "I can't believe them. An hour ago, they still hated each other. And now they're dry humping."

Ryan shook his head. "I will still never get used to seeing my sister so..."

"Sexual?"

He closed his eyes.

"Horny?" grinned Taylor teasingly.

"Stop."

_But whatever road you choose, I'm right behind you, win or lose.  
Forever young, forever young, forever young, forever young._

Gabriella, giddily, skidded over to the joined-at-the-mouth couple. "It's great that you're back together or whatever," she said, "but come and socialize a little."

"This is, like, the best song," sighed Taylor, dreamily, as she, Ryan, and Troy approached the other three. Zeke and Jason walked up, too, in time to hear Taylor's comment.

"You think?" asked Zeke skeptically. "I don't know, I'm not much of a fan of Rod Stewart."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, Kimberly Stewart is the ugliest thing alive."

Taylor made an incredulous face at him. "Is that why you don't like Rod Stewart?"

"... yes."

"I always feel young when I'm around you guys," commented Gabriella. "Like, I'm back in high school and I'm allowed to be an idiot."

"Me too," agreed Sharpay. "That's why you're all invited to my fortieth birthday party. I'll need to feel really young then."

_Forever young, forever young._

"Hey, guys," spoke up Chad. "I kinda wanted to apologize... you know, for being such a jackass after we broke up."

Sharpay frowned. "Me too. We were both asses."

"Yes, you were," snapped Gabriella. "Huge asses. _Giant_ asses."

"Need more synonyms?" asked Sharpay irritably.

"But that's all in the past," Ryan interjected. "So we can move on."

Sharpay nodded quickly. "Yes. Move on."

"We'll visit more," Zeke offered.

"Definitely," Jason agreed.

"Dare I be cheesy?" asked Taylor, smirking.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Might as well. Whenever we're about to separate, we have to be cheesy."

"And since you guys already _have_ been cheesy," Troy pointed out, "what's a little more?"

"We will always be... forever young," Taylor said dramatically.

Predictably, the boys winced.

"What? You said we could," Gabriella retorted.

"It doesn't make it any easier," grumbled Chad.

"We are the three corniest girls ever," explained Taylor. "So either find new friends... or finally deal with it."

Troy suddenly swooped down to kiss Gabriella full on the lips. "I love you, Mrs. Gabriella Montez-Bolton."

"Aww, no more Mrs. Bolton?" she crooned.

He made a face. "I could never have sex with you again if you were Mrs. Bolton."

Empowered by their display, Taylor snaked her arms around Ryan's waist and laid her head on his chest. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He kissed the top of her head.

Sharpay glanced at Chad nervously. He smirked and put his arm around her shoulders. "I like you."

"I like you, too," she said, with imminent relief.

"Well, I love _all_ of you!" cried Gabriella, looking at all seven of them. "Troy the most, but all of you." She frowned. "I feel like I did right before Zeke left for college."

"Don't think about it, then," Troy said, his arm draped lazily around his wife's shoulders. "Just block it out."

Taylor nodded. "Yeah. Because we'll see each other again."

"Definitely," Sharpay echoed.

_For, forever young, forever young._


End file.
